“Xinhua gushes about "powerful positive energy" after US president showed he is capable of making all the right diplomatic noises”
I’m not sure how this comes out. There are many in the Trump administration that want huge trade wars with China. There are many who want to have China as a military adversary.
I do know that it can’t hurt for two of the three most powerful countries to meet and get to know each other. With all of the troubles in the world, we could learn a lot about how to conduct foreign policy from China.
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As in so many other countries, the internet and social media hinders the government’s ability to hide good news from the citizenry. As Vietnam evolves into a modern country the citizenry knows there are more and better things out there. Their communist government is unable to adapt and when under pressure from those calling for change they resort to the old communist methods of repression.
The APEC meeting in Vietnam this week will stretch the government's patience immensely. Protestors will try hard to influence foreign leaders. …
The middle east has more intrigue than most places. Folks that should be enemies sometimes aren’t. Folks that should be allies sometimes aren’t.
The three big players for many decades have been Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Other countries in the region have always been played by these three. Despite these three being enemies, all of them are smart enough to make temporary alliances in order to go after the one.
It looks like Israel and Saudi Arabia are continuing the alliance they made to eliminate Syria. This time the target is Iran. And we’re falling for it again.
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Whatever their plans, the stakeholders in the Middle East must remember that clever plans to remake the Middle East have hitherto been remarkable for their inability to anticipate countermoves by opposing forces.
Tension is increasing all across the Middle East and the United States is again falling into a trap set up by its so-called allies to act against its own interests by getting deeply involved in what might turn out to be an escalating conflict. The recent victories by the Syrian Army and its Russian allies, which suggest that the active phase of the Syrian civil war will soon be drawing to a close, means that the perennial unrest in the region will be shifting gears and possibly leading to new conflict in areas that have until now been quiet. The lack of any real American policy for the region will enable the Saudis and Israelis, who have hegemonistic dreams of their own, to manipulate a casus belli, quite likely starting in Lebanon, where Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri recently resigned his office and fled to Saudi Arabia, claiming that he was fearing for his life due to his resistance to Iran’s influence over his country.…
When veteran North Korea watchers turn their attention to a young man named Kim Han-sol, these days his real identity is no longer much in question.
Their overriding concerns are “where is he?” and “who is hiding him?” Is he with the Chinese, the South Koreans or the Americans? Or is he the well-guarded guest of a North Korean defector group?
Han-sol is the 22-year-old son of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who was assassinated in Malaysia earlier this year in a plot involving suspected agents from Pyongyang.
He is also the grandson of former North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il. This qualifies him as the last surviving male of so-called “Baekdu” descent — the direct bloodline running from North Korean state founder Kim Il-sung.
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38 North is one of the more respected organizations devoted to analysis about North Korea. This is some powerful analysis here. Understanding the Asian mind takes years and years of experience and maybe can never be completely accomplished by westerners.
North Korea may be so convinced that its strategic position vs. the US has changed for the better that it might be willing to step back from the brink of nuclear war and settle for “practical equilibrium” with the US.
Robert Carlin, a veteran Korea analyst writing for website 38 North, says that since two successful ICBM launches last July, Pyongyang may have come to the heady conclusion that it has reached the “final stage” in bolstering the nuclear force.…
Most of us know that George Soros meddles in the affairs of the US, funding all sorts of anti-American groups like Antifa, Black Lives Matter, you name it.
It’s not just us. He’s been a leader in destroying Europe too. The resistance of the eastern European countries has made lots of a news.
A recent report reveals the pervasiveness of the Soros meddling in Europe.
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The two sources that originated the allegations claiming that Russia meddled in the 2016 election without providing convincing evidence — were both paid for by the Democratic National Committee, and in one instance also by the Clinton campaign: the Steele dossier and the CrowdStrike analysis of the DNC servers. Think about that for a minute.
We have long known that the DNC did not allow the FBI to examine its computer server for clues about who may have hacked it – or even if it was hacked – and instead turned to CrowdStrike, a private company co-founded by a virulently anti-Putin Russian. Within a day, CrowdStrike blamed Russia on dubious evidence.…
Despite the best efforts of the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel, ISIS has been destroyed in Syria! I’m sure there are stragglers around the country, but their organized resistance is over.
The folks that live there (Iraq, Iran, Syria) have put aside differences to defeat a common enemy. John McCain must be in real pain today.…
The never ending war in Afghanistan continues on.
Much is made of the economic cost of the war, which is incredibly high.
Not so much is made of the real cost of the war, namely the damage done to our most valuable assets, our people. It goes beyond the death and injury to our military members. The heroin addictions in the US are equally troubling. …
