• OPINION

  From Europe to the Pacific, world weighs risk of war

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 31/01/2024

  » As last week's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) defence chiefs' meeting drew to a close, Nato Military Committee Chairman Adm Robert Bauer outlined the steps he believed households within the alliance should already be taking in the event of war.

• OPINION

  Behind US-China smiles, Taiwan face-off risks peril

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 28/11/2023

  » When John F Kennedy became US president in January 1961, he was determined to meet his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, directly. It was better, he told advisers, "to meet at the summit rather than the brink".

• OPINION

  US now pulled back to refocus on Middle East

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 14/10/2023

  » Early on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after Hamas launched the largest assault against Israel in more than 50 years, an unknown object or force wrenched aside and damaged the key undersea gas pipeline and fibre-optic cable linking Finland and Estonia beneath the Baltic Sea.

• OPINION

  Global ammunition race may decide Ukraine war

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 08/05/2023

  » At the US Army Ammunition Plant in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, production lines are running day and night through the working week to deliver artillery shells.

• OPINION

  Even an imperfect UN is still the world's best hope

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 27/09/2018

  » Four years after World War II, former British prime minister Winston Churchill was asked to reflect on what would have prevented the conflict. The greatest mistake after World War I, he said, was not to properly resource the League of Nations, the international forum of countries created in 1919. Doing so "would have saved us all".

• OPINION

  China's plans to reshape the world

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 10/08/2018

  » Ten years ago on Wednesday, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics showcased a fast-growing, economically powerful China with unmistakable ambitions to be a major global player. Just a few days ago, the Chinese authorities demolished the studio of artist Ai Weiwei, designer of the Games' iconic "bird's nest" stadium and now an exiled dissident in Germany.

• OPINION

  From Trump to Europe crises, what to watch in 2018

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 29/12/2017

  » Professional forecasters like to say that making predictions is difficult, particularly about the future. As we reach the end of 2017, however, here are some of the key themes -- and questions -- that look set to shape global events next year.

• OPINION

  The West's military renaissance

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 24/07/2017

  » This month's G20 meeting in Hamburg showed Western countries still struggling for a strategy to stop suspected Russian meddling in their politics and hacking their elections. Behind the scenes, however, the US and European militaries have been more effective in adapting to the actions of President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's aggressive new military doctrine.

• OPINION

  In standing up to Trump, Europe gets its mojo back

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 01/06/2017

  » If US President Donald Trump wanted to make an impression with his first visit to Europe last week, he unquestionably succeeded.

• OPINION

  Kim knows exactly what he's doing

  News, Peter Apps, Published on 10/03/2017

  » With a suspected role in the assassination of his estranged half-brother and a string of increasingly aggressive missile tests, the North Korean leader appears to be testing the patience not just of Washington but also his key ally, China. It's a high-stakes game that may push the region into the worst conflict it has ever seen. Kim Jong-un's actions have a ruthless internal logic, however, and while he has a plan, there is no sign that anyone has a coherent strategy for stopping him.

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