How organized crime plays key role in Ukrainian conflict

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On November 1, the deputy director of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation played down remarks made on October 30 by an agency official who warned of Western weapons bound for Ukraine being smuggled into Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, the affair generated significant attention and reflected previous concerns expressed by European authorities over Ukraine’s vulnerability to organized […]Continue Reading

‘Shoeboxes of love’ a fundamentalist Trojan horse 

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Every November, thousands of schools in Western countries take part in Operation Christmas Child, during which young children and their families are encouraged to pack shoeboxes with toys, personal hygiene items, and school supplies for less fortunate children around the world. Since 1990, some 186 million children in more than 160 countries have received shoeboxes, according […]Continue Reading

Annus horribilis for Japan’s stumbling Kishida

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The past year has not been good for Japan, nor for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government. Japan has faced a dramatically deteriorating global and regional security environment and a perfect storm of challenges on the home front, including the Covid-19 pandemic, soaring inflation and the ramifications of the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe on July […]Continue Reading

The economic realities we face at the end of 2022

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The United States and China are trading blows on economic and strategic fronts in what some see as the dawn of a new Cold War. Image: iStock/Getty Images

Economies around the world were shocked and damaged over the course of 2022. Global capitalism had been brewing conflicts among the major powers (the United States, China and the European Union) for some time as their relative strengths and vulnerabilities shifted. US capitalism and its empire are widely perceived as waning. Europe’s role as a […]Continue Reading

Ismail Sabri must explain refusal to heed MetMalaysia’s advice against holding polls this year: Lim Guan Eng

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KUALA LUMPUR: Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob must publicly explain his refusal to heed the Malaysian Meteorological Department’s (MetMalaysia) expert advice against holding a general election this year, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Lim Guan Eng.  This came after Mr Ismail Sabri said on Sunday (Nov 6) thatContinue Reading

Time to redefine China’s regional security role

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Today the possibility of consolidating an inclusive regional architecture for comprehensive security in the Asia Pacific has become almost inconceivable. This is because ongoing China-US tension appears to have excluded that option. The United States has been busy consolidating its old military alliances and putting together new ones in the region in order to compete […]Continue Reading