Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – “Surpass Britain and catch up with America” was one of the more idealistic slogans put about by Mao Zedong after he reunited China back into one country again in 1949. Though it would ultimately fall to his successor Deng Xiaoping to plant China’s feet back on the […]
Are China and N. Korea biggest Winners from Trump dissing Iran Deal?
In reneging on JCPOA re: Iran, Trump is giving North Korea new ammunition
Demand-Side Slavery, Libyan Instability and European Crime Networks
Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | – – After several years in which refugees and migration have featured heavily in the Western media narrative, a disturbing correlation between human trafficking and conflict zones is well established. But new studies indicate that conflicts do not just cause human trafficking as refugees seek to flee warzones; wars […]
Turkey’s Syrian blowback
London (Informed Comment) – With the New Year terrorist attack in Istanbul now being claimed by the Islamic State (IS) movement, it is clear that Turkey has suffered yet more blowback from its earlier tolerance of the Middle East’s most vicious terrorist network. The rampage, suspected to have been carried out by a Central Asian […]
Why is the US helping Saudi Arabia target Yemen’s future?
London (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia has long been accused of needlessly hitting civilian targets during its air campaign in neighbouring Yemen. Most commentators have put this down to a mixture of indifference and military incompetence on the part of the Saudi armed forces. Their capabilities against hardened fighters like the rebel Houthis were long […]
Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks
London (Informed Comment) – As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers inside its territory, it can seem like the days of Islamic State (IS) are finally numbered after a two year reign of terror in the region. However it […]
Has the Turkish-Saudi direct Military Intervention in Syria Begun?
London (Informed Comment) – The news that Turkey has begun military strikes against the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) militia inside Syria marks an ominous chapter in that country’s civil war. Turkey acted after YPG forces and allied units from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized the strategic Mennagh Military Airport in northern Aleppo […]
The new Chinese Century? Can a Green China with no Mideast Entanglements Surpass US?
London (Informed Comment) – In the last fifteen years the United States has spent a total of between $4 trillion and $6 trillion on its twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all the while running up its national debt, and damaging its international prestige. The root cause of these foreign entanglements, and America’s costly position […]
Hidden Dragon: China quietly becomes a Major Player in the Middle East
By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) – The era of Western neo-colonial dominance in the Middle East may finally be drawing to a bloody close. The Western monopoly ended almost unnoticed in 2013 when China replaced the European Union as the region’s foremost trading partner, pushing the US into third place, with India breathing at America’s heels […]
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