Tensions have been rising in the South China Sea of late, and these are threatening to put strains on China’s relations with South East Asia and the US.
Essentially, China has reiterated its long-standing claims over the whole of the South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel islands. Unsurprisingly, this sovereignty assertion is disputed by [Read more...]

There’s been quite a lot of commentary in the media of late about Turkey emerging as a global power. This seems to have been prompted by the increasingly assertive positions on a variety of issues (eg standing up to Israel over the Gaza blockade, and vetoing new UN sanctions on Iran) adopted by Prime Minister [Read more...]

Few people would dispute that the relationship between the US and China is the most important in the world, so much so that the term ‘Chimerica’ is used often nowadays to refer to the two countries as a single economy. Both sides generally benefit, if you overlook the huge US trade deficit with China, and [Read more...]

It is tempting to dismiss the annual Eurovision Song Contest (broadcast on Saturday evening) as meaningless nonsense, and an exercise in which country can embarrass itself the most. However, I think this is far too hasty a judgement. Having watched it on and off for several years, I’d say it is still possible to make [Read more...]

Much has been made of how Russia’s recent offensive in Georgia marks its resurgence as a global power. Its invasion came after almost continuous geopolitical reversals for the past 20 years, as evidenced by the following events:

Military defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989
Collapse of [Read more...]