The SCO and Middle East: Expanding stakes and new approaches
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) began life in 1996 when China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan set up the “Shanghai Five” as a regional confidence-building forum....
Regional consequences of Trump’s visit to Saudi ArabiaIn a historic gesture, President Donald Trump has announced that Saudi Arabia will be the first foreign country he will visit as president when he begins his tour to West Asia and the Vatican on 19...
Chinese diplomacy amid the US-North Korea standoffThe last two weeks have seen an increasingly shrill rhetoric from North Korea, provocative tests of missiles, and US and South Korean military manoeuvres. The latter have evoked harsher North Korean...
Connecting the ISIS dots on terror in St. PetersburgIn the afternoon of Monday, 3 April, the historic city of St. Petersburg joined other European cities like Brussels, Paris and Nice in becoming the target of a terrorist attack. The victims were...
‘Islam’ looms large in the French presidential electionsOn February 20, Marine Le Pen, the presidential candidate of the far-right National Front, paid a two-day visit to Lebanon. In Beirut, Le Pen had formal meetings with Lebanese political leaders, but...
Post-Brexit, May seeks to shape a new British profile in the GulfBritish PM has been upbeat from the outset, speaking of a ‘new global role’ for the UK, without the limits placed on it by its membership of a continental union...
Trump’s promises to shakeup US energy face a reality checkThe US oil industry is now confident that the Trump presidency will prioritise the development of fossil fuels at home...
Iraq after the liberation of MosulA united and pluralistic Iraq at peace with itself will provide its prime minister Haidar al-Abadi the opportunity to undertake initiatives for the revival of his country’s economy ...