Turkey-Syria in a delicate reconciliation dance

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What started in the autumn as the small, hesitant steps of reluctant dance partners has exploded in pace over the past few weeks, as Turkey and Syria begin open moves toward some form of reconciliation. A few months ago, it was reported that the intelligence heads of both countries had held multiple meetings, encouraged by Russia. […]Continue Reading

Western tanks to make Ukraine more like NATO

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When he appeared before the UK’s House of Commons Defense Committee in November 2021 to defend his government’s cuts to the armed forces, the then-prime minister, Boris Johnson, declared that “the old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European land mass are over.” Committee chairman Tobias Elwood noted, however, that it was tanks that […]Continue Reading

Reason to hope for a China-Australia reset

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For the first time in a long time, a year can begin with a realistic assessment that Australia-China relations are on an upward trajectory again. After winning last May’s federal election, the new Albanese government set “stabilization” as the objective for Canberra’s relations with Beijing. Rather than reaching for something loftier, “stabilization” made sense given […]Continue Reading

US keeps chipping away at Dutch resistance on China

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In: Asia, Business

Although the two countries’ leaders met in Washington on Tuesday, the United States and the Netherlands have yet to reached agreement on some possible new restrictions on exports to China. After a face-to-face discussion with US President Joe Biden in the White House, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Dutch TV program Nieuwsuur that he […]Continue Reading

India needs an overall trade-profile revision

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Part 1 is here. It is vital for India to identify critical dependencies, with criticality being defined in terms of the essentiality, quantitative utility and multi-sector relevance of the imported items (product categories and subcategories) as well as the singularity, stability, and vulnerability of their import origins vis-à-vis the viability and readiness of domestic and […]Continue Reading

Chongryon: The only way North Korea talks to Japan

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The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan — abbreviated as Chongryon in Korean — has long served the interests of the North Korean government in Japan under the supervision of the 225th Bureau of the United Front Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea. It is the only conduit between the governments of North Korea and […]Continue Reading