“What is happening with the Rohingya refugees? We heard so much about all the horrible things, but how are they now?” These are questions I often get when I talk to people about my research. What is the situation for the Rohingya? The situation is terrible.
Category: Regions and Powers
Curtains for Wagner: Can Russia’s Show in Africa Go On?
The fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and its impact on Russian activities in Africa: diminished authority of President Putin, fading diplomatic influence, and declining mercenary power pose challenges to sustaining interventions on the continent. The abrupt end to the spectacular career of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner Group and the proprietor of a… Read more »
In the Israeli Democracy Protests, the Flag Has Become the Contentious Topic – The Occupation Is Not.
For the past few months Israel has experienced mass demonstrations both for and against the attempted judicial “reforms” by the current right-wing government. A striking visual theme of these protests have been the ubiquity of the Israeli flag. The use of national symbols like the Israeli flag is nothing unusual for Israel’s right-wing movements, indeed it has long… Read more »
The Two-State Solution Vacuum
In Israel/Palestine, it is an established truism that there is no alternative to the two-state solution. When the Oslo Accord was signed in September 1993, this solution was its central premise. Developments over the past 30 years, however, have rendered it impossible. This is something we must talk about.
China’s Digital Silk Road and Malaysia’s Technological Neutrality
Like other nations in Asia and Africa, Malaysia has shown considerable agency in navigating the tech war between the United States and China. The ongoing tech war between the United States and China is increasingly driven by ideological, normative, and political tensions. The development of 5G technologies and the strategic hedging of third countries represent… Read more »
Hard Georgian Lessons for Ending the War in Ukraine
Russia’s all-out aggression against Ukraine, which will pass the 18-month mark next week, is indirectly but strongly connected to the Russo-Georgian war of 15 years ago. In the first week of August 2008, Georgian villages in South Ossetia, a separatist enclave controlled by Russia since 1992, came under heavy artillery fire; on August 14, Russian… Read more »
Ukraine’s ‘Counteroffensive’ in the Global South
The low-profile and high-impact meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 5 and 6 was never intended to produce a road map for ending the war in Ukraine; neither was it a summit, since the invitations sent to some 40 countries specified the level of representation as national security advisers. It can, nevertheless, be called… Read more »
Unraveling China’s Strategic Re-engagement in Myanmar
As the international community ponders how to approach the Myanmar crisis, China has revamped its engagement in hopes of strengthening China-Myanmar relations. As Myanmar enters its third year of civil unrest since the 2021 military coup, international players are still developing strategies for how to address the growing crisis in Myanmar.
Hollow Words and Apparent Setbacks at the Russia-Africa Summit
Concerted diplomatic efforts were invested during preparations for the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, formally held on July 27 and 28, and President Vladimir Putin was grandstanding, networking and entertaining his guests non-stop from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday evening. His main intention was to demonstrate the width and depth of Russia’s ties with the continent…. Read more »
Russia Escalates War by Breaking Ukraine Grain Deal
The decision to withdraw from the international arrangement guaranteeing the safety of grain exports from Ukrainian ports, announced in Moscow on July 17, signifies a significant effort to escalate non-kinetic hostilities to break the pattern of slow-moving defeat in this war of attrition. Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the benefits that Ukraine… Read more »