Op-ed

Giancarlo Valori The democratic parties in the People’s Republic of China are playing an increasingly proactive role in the State’s political life. In recent years, their leaders have been invited to participate in over 200 events concerning both China’s foreign policy and the activities of the Communist Party …

Ethen Lieser In a press conference late last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted that “price gouging needs to stop.” A new report is indicating that millions of Americans are cutting their overall spending due to high gas prices that have reached a nationwide average of $4.48 per …

Christopher Vassalo The “silicon shield” invites Taipei to seek security in vulnerability, confident that its Western clients will protect it. Efforts to erode Taiwan’s chip-making dominance should accompany the provision of arms for the island’s defense. Taiwan’s “silicon shield”—the name for a strategy that entrusts the island’s defense to both …

Recent deep cuts to overseas aid budgets by governments, will have “direct, negative impacts” on the ability of the world to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN chief warned on Friday. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his concern over the fall in Overseas Development Aid (ODA) following …

Ivelin Zvezdov Post-industrial and neo-technological societies have rigorously separated the stories of cultural values and those of the earth’s nature and climate.  Human civilizations have been fully dependent on the wilderness of nature and the particularities of climate for their survival and success for millennia.  It is understandable …

Eric Zeusse  On May 12th, Russia’s RT bannered “Finland’s NATO membership will trigger response – Moscow”, and reported thatMoscow has warned that Finland joining NATO would pose a direct threat to Russia’s security and its acceptance to the military alliance would prompt Russia to develop measures to ensure …

The large-scale war that erupted between Russia and Ukraine, the two major grain-producing countries, undoubtedly will impact the global food market. However, it would be insufficient to use simple quantitative analyses to assess its effect on the global grain trade. It is only through an all-rounded interpretation of …

James M. Dorsey Amid speculation about a reduced US military commitment to security in the Middle East, Turkey has spotlighted the region’s ability to act as a disruptive force if its interests are neglected. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set off alarm bells this week, declaring that he …

Giancarlo Valori On May 3, when asked about the possible causes of the Ukrainian tragedy, His Holiness Pope Francis speculated about an “anger” probably “facilitated initially by NATO’s barking at Russia’s door. I cannot say whether this anger was provoked, but it was probably facilitated”. What do the …