Talk of war is getting louder in the West. The German minister of defense proclaimed this month that Germany has to rebuild its army, as did his British colleague. At the start of the war in Ukraine two years ago, the Western media depicted the Russian military as hopelessly ineffective, outdated, and corrupt. Yet in […]

The post The Western fight against the tide of history appeared first on Asia Times.

A couple of years ago, many compared China to the eternal phoenix rising from the ashes: only in this case from the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen, and instead of a rapid recovery of business activity and consumer demand, stagnation set in. Moreover, Beijing found itself with a deflation problem that will […]

The post When will the Chinese phoenix be reborn? appeared first on Asia Times.

An American coalition consisting mainly of Iraqi forces destroyed the city of Mosul in northern Iraq in 2017, with civilian casualties estimated at somewhere between 2,500 and 40,000. The Associated Press count was 11,000 civilians dead but it might have been much higher. ISIS fighters prevented civilians from leaving as the US and its allies […]

The post When genosuicide feels like genocide appeared first on Asia Times.

There is breaking news that suggests Tuvalu’s prime minister, Kausea Natano, has lost his seat in local elections. This sets the stage for Seve Paeniu and Enele Sopoaga to make a move for the prime ministership. In Taipei, these events will be seen as the latest in a series of extremely unwelcome foreign-policy developments. While Natano was […]

The post Taiwan: Next domino looks set to fall in Tuvalu appeared first on Asia Times.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a new cap on international students. In 2024, IRCC aims to issue 360,000 study permits, a 35% reduction from 2023. This announcement comes on the heels of a doubling of the cost-of-living requirement, whereby international students coming to study in any province except Quebec have to demonstrate […]

The post Canada falsely blames foreign students for its housing, health-care woes appeared first on Asia Times.

Since mid-2023, a series of assassination plots have strained India’s relations with Canada and the US. In June 2023, a Sikh separatist activist living in Canada was reportedly killed on orders from Indian security services. Subsequently, in November, it came to light that US authorities were investigating an assassination attempt against another Sikh separatist figure […]

The post Assassination scandal threatens India’s relations with Five Eyes appeared first on Asia Times.

Azerbaijan’s economic growth and diversification have played a pivotal role in enhancing stability and security across the South Caucasus and Central Asia regions since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In recent years, its principal partner in this project has been Kazakhstan. Initially focused on their oil and gas reserves, both countries have been shifting […]

The post Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan to drive Caspian region growth appeared first on Asia Times.

The Cuban missile crisis of 1963 is etched into the minds of any American old enough to have experienced the terror it triggered. For the first time, our leaders had ordered and succeeded in creating a military system that could destroy us all – and where there was and remains no possible way to survive […]

The post The New Cold War and the risk of nuclear annihilation appeared first on Asia Times.

Japanese government bonds experienced a drop on Tuesday, driven by what many analysts are interpreting as hawkish comments from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda. The central bank’s signals are prompting investors around the world to reconsider their strategies and adjust their expectations, with a prevailing view emerging that the BOJ might raise interest rates […]

The post Will Bank of Japan raise rates in first half of 2024? appeared first on Asia Times.

On December 30, the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, owned by Danish company Maersk Line, came under missile and subsequent boat attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. The US Navy responded by using helicopters to destroy three of the four ships used in the assault. Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, immediately announced it was […]

The post How Houthis threaten US control over global shipping appeared first on Asia Times.

The last of the 24 books included in the Old Testament, the Book of Esther, takes place in Persia, roughly today’s Iran. It is surprisingly topical in light of events in the Middle East and around the globe. It shows how decisions made in societies ruled by deistic/dictatorial conceptions, where arbitrary rules can bring a perpetual Damocles’ […]

The post When deistic conception of society and arbitrariness rule … appeared first on Asia Times.

The end of World War II was distinguished by a carefully choreographed scenario that was finalized by the Allies at the Yalta Conference held in February 1945. During this process, Josef Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt, with Britain and France as little more than spectators, reformatted the borders of the nations of Central Europe.  These borders […]

The post America: the perils of being No 1 appeared first on Asia Times.

The Taliban have brought in the new year by stepping up their campaign against women and girls in Afghanistan. Having already banned women from education and employment, the regime is now targeting women on the streets for their appearance. This is a dangerous new phase in the Taliban’s attempts to dominate women and girls and […]

The post Taliban’s latest attempt to punish women could backfire appeared first on Asia Times.

On September 9, 2023, less than a month before the October 7 massacre and the war that followed, violent clashes broke out between hundreds of young Gazans and security guards from a Gaza travel agency that had been granted a license to issue visas to Turkey. Several people were injured, and the company’s offices were […]

The post Gazans aren’t predestined to be eternal refugees appeared first on Asia Times.

Former US president Donald Trump has been accused by his opponents of acting, during his time in office, as if he had “immunity” from certain laws and rules that would limit his actions if he did not have, at the relevant time, the unique status of POTUS. President Xi Jinping was criticized for his conjectured […]

The post The three layers of Natural Law appeared first on Asia Times.

Increasingly, there have been signs of Israel’s current military operations expanding violence beyond Gaza. Such prognoses became compelling after last week’s military strikes by the US and its allies on more than 60 locations under Houthi command and launch centers across Yemen, followed by Iranian strikes on Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. The US has since […]

The post Could war in Gaza ignite direct US-Iran confrontation?  appeared first on Asia Times.

Most Pacific Island countries claim the foreign policy of “friends to all and enemies to none” amid the mounting geopolitical disputes between the United States and China. But what does this foreign policy mean? This policy seeks to identify short- and long-term national interests on an ad hoc basis with bilateral partners, including superpowers the United States and China. […]

The post Can the Pacific Islands remain ‘friends to all’? appeared first on Asia Times.

ISLAMABAD – The Capital Territory of Pakistan is under intense political pressure ahead of general elections scheduled for February 8. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is facing in-house challenges. So far, two senior judges, Justice Mazaher Ali Naqvi and Justice Ijaz Ul Hasan, have resigned in protest over the perceived one-man rule of Chief Justice […]

The post Baloch camp vs establishment camp appeared first on Asia Times.

Last year was the hottest on record by a wide margin. The planet is now 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than it was before the fossil-fuel revolution. Global heating is accelerating. This year is likely to set another record because the latter half of 2023 featured an El Niño climate pattern that continues to influence global weather. The last colder-than-average […]

The post Climate change and energy transition: the 2023 scorecard appeared first on Asia Times.

Since the first rays of the new-year sun illuminated the Tokyo skyline, they have cast a warm glow on Japan’s stock market, which has witnessed a remarkable rally in the early days of 2024.  Investors, both domestic and international, are buoyed by a sense of optimism as they anticipate a positive turn for the Japanese […]

The post Japan’s stock market continues to rally – here’s why appeared first on Asia Times.