Multilateralism vs ‘Turkmenistan First’

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Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov aims to position his country as a major Eurasian hub for trade in goods and services. Although it once seemed far-fetched, the goal now appears increasingly to be within grasp. Aiding his ambition is Turkmenistan’s location on the shores of the strategically vital Caspian Sea and its possession of the world’s fifth-largest proven gas […]Continue Reading

Biden’s diplomacy without deadlines erodes US-Gulf alliance

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Qatari troops take part in a joint naval exercise with US troops in the Persian Gulf on June 16, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Naseem Zeitoon

As US and Gulf Cooperation Council officials huddled in mid-February to discuss military coordination that could counter Iran’s destabilizing activity in the region, an explosive Iranian drone slammed into an Israeli-owned tanker in the Arabian Sea.  Though committed to GCC security and the freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf – a waterway through which a quarter […]Continue Reading

Machine magic or art menace? Japan’s first AI manga

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“HUMANS STILL DOMINATE” Some manga artists welcome the new possibilities offered by the technology. “I don’t really see AI as a threat – rather, I think it can be a great companion,” Madoka Kobayashi, whose career spans over 30 years, told AFP. Artificial intelligence can “help me visualise what IContinue Reading