The U.S. failed in Afghanistan by trying to moralize with bullets and bombs
Jan 10, 2022 13:07 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Last August, the world watched the chaotic and painful American departure from Afghanistan. It led to a profound reckoning: how could two decades of war end in such humiliating defeat at the hands of Taliban...
Can China win back global opinion before the Winter Olympics? Does it even want to?
Jan 03, 2022 12:11 pm UTC| Politics
The Beijing Winter Olympics are only weeks away and China has been forced on the defensive by a diplomatic boycott called by the US, UK, Australia and other western countries. There had been pressure for Western...

Does the US have the right to sail warships through the South China Sea? And can China stop them?
Dec 20, 2021 09:59 am UTC| Politics
Images of what appeared to be US warships emerged from China last month, but they were not anywhere near an ocean. In fact, they were thousands of kilometres away, in a desert in western China. Military experts said the...

Dec 20, 2021 09:55 am UTC| Economy
Afghanistan is in a major humanitarian crisis: the health sector is failing, the economy is collapsing, and amid the COVID pandemic, famine is inflicting ever-larger numbers of casualties. According to the most recent...

'One China' principle: what this interesting aspect of diplomacy means for China and Taiwan
Dec 04, 2021 01:56 am UTC| Politics
The tense triangular relationship between the US, China and Taiwan has emerged once again amid escalating military tensions across the Taiwan Strait. The status of the small, densely populated island off the southeast...
Trade war looms over article 16: the Northern Ireland protocol safeguard, explained
Nov 13, 2021 07:49 am UTC| Economy
David Frost, the UK Brexit minister, has expressed discontent with the implementation of the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol. This is the trade arrangement at the heart of controversies over trade between the EU, Great...

Belarus: whether or not Putin is behind the border crisis, it plays into Kremlin hands
Nov 13, 2021 07:36 am UTC| Politics
The migrant crisis on Belaruss western border has escalated rapidly in recent days, forcing Poland and Lithuania to declare a state of emergency and close the borders with their neighbour. With 15,000 Polish border...