Asia

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Indian Express reports from Iran’s PressTV that the country has discovered a deposit of 8.5 million tons of lithium in the Qahavand Plain of western Hamedan province. There are only 89 million tons of lithium in the world in known deposits so far, with the bulk of them in […]

Afghanistan

Women’s Sports Going Downhill In Afghanistan As Taliban Denies The Right To Ski

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Mansoor Khosrow | – ( RFE/ RL ) – The majestic mountains in the central province of Bamiyan are known as Afghanistan’s skiing capital. But due to a new Taliban ban, women are no longer welcome on the slopes. Hundreds of amateur and professional skiers took to the mountains to hone their skills far […]

China

At the Brink of War in the Pacific? The Nightmare of Great Power Rivalry Over Taiwan

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – While the world has been distracted, even amused, by the diplomatic tussle around China’s recent high-altitude balloon flights across North America, there are signs that Beijing and Washington are preparing for something so much more serious: armed conflict over Taiwan. Reviewing recent developments in the Asia-Pacific region raises a tried-and-true historical […]

China

China Dominates Solar and Wind Energy: Can the U.S. and Europe Finally Catch Up?

The Conversation

By Michael Jacobs, University of Sheffield | – Climate change policy has entered a new era. The growing row between the United States and the European Union over the impacts of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about China. For the last […]

China

Iran’s Raisi Visits Beijing, Signs 20 Agreements, as Iranian Lion and Chinese ‘Yellow Dragon’ seek to Outflank US Pressure

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited China on Tuesday in response to an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is probably now Iran’s biggest trading partner, and the trade of the two countries increased by 30% in 2022. At the meeting, twenty economic commitments were signed by the two sides. […]

Asia

Manifesto for an Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South

contributors

A new manifesto critiques the “clean energy” transitions of the Global North and offers an alternative vision from the Global South. By Peoples of the Global South Manifesto for an Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South An appeal to leaders, institutions, and our brothers and sisters More than two years after […]

China

Was the Chinese Spy Balloon a Sign of Infighting among China’s Power Elite?

Michael G. Roskin

Nashville (Special to Informed Comment) – China’s balloon incursion was no accident but an expression of both internal Chinese politics and of its foreign policy. Beijing is rumbling with important policy disputes and who has what kind of power. Under the uniform surface, China still has political quarrels. “No one in charge” was one explanation […]

China

Climate Change will Supersede Everything: The Pentagon’s Massive Intelligence Failure on China

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) – Given the secrecy typically accorded to the military and the inclination of government officials to skew data to satisfy the preferences of those in power, intelligence failures are anything but unusual in this country’s security affairs. In 2003, for instance, President George W. Bush invaded Iraq based on claims — later found […]

China

Mad World: Global Flashpoints to watch in 2023 in the Era of ‘Polycrisis’

The Conversation

By Susan Harris Rimmer, Griffith University | – (The Conversation) – When 2022 began, there was trepidation about what might happen in at least ten regions. Topping most lists were concerns about tensions in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. What actually transpired in 2022 were some of the most shocking humanitarian scenes in modern history – […]