Wars are world-shaping. Beyond their immediate human and physical tolls, wars alter the fates of societies and states; of clans, cultures and leaders. They establish new lines of access to resources and influence, determining who has what – and who doesn’t. They set precedents for how future wars are justified and, in the case of […]Continue Reading
An African proverb notes that “when two elephants fight, it is the grass underneath that suffers”. Many states in the global south are, therefore, seeking to avoid getting caught in the middle of any future battles between the US and China. Instead, they are calling for a renewal of the concept of non-alignment. This was […]Continue Reading
The 2024 US presidential election race is already underway. In recent polls, President Joe Biden is the clear favorite among Democrats for the 2024 nomination. No one else comes close, with Vice President Kamala Harris a distant second, some twenty points behind. Biden is the only candidate who would preserve the coalition that he built […]Continue Reading
Climate change policy has entered a new era. The growing row between the United States and the European Union over the impacts of the new American green subsidy regime makes that all too clear. Yet in many ways, this story is ultimately about China. For the last 20 years, developed countries have used three main […]Continue Reading
Through a year of war in Ukraine, the US and most European nations have worked to help counter Russia, in supporting Ukraine both with armaments and in world energy markets. Russia was Europe’s main energy supplier when it invaded Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin threatened to leave Europeans to freeze “like a wolf’s tail” – […]Continue Reading
The frontline may be frozen but the battle rages on in Ukraine. In Bakhmut, a town that Moscow views as key to gain control of the entire Eastern Donbas area, the past weeks have seen military stock shrink fast, and hundreds of troops killed and injured a day, according to US analysts. All, so far, […]Continue Reading
The Russia-Ukraine war has exacerbated an energy crisis that directly affects the costs of heating, cooling, lighting and mobility, and indirectly pushed up the costs of other goods and services throughout global supply chains. While all households are affected, they are affected in different ways depending on their income, how they spend their money, and […]Continue Reading
The 50 Americans who gave or pledged the most to charity in 2022 committed to giving US$14.1 billion to foundations, universities, hospitals and more – a total that was 60% below an inflation-adjusted $35.6 billion in 2021, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s latest annual tally of these donations. The Conversation US asked David Campbell, […]Continue Reading
On the heels of the February 4 shooting down of a Chinese balloon suspected of spying on the United States, American fighter jets have shot down three additional objects in or near US airspace. When the media asked Glen VanHerck, the Air Force general responsible for overseeing North American airspace, about these events, he refused […]Continue Reading
Moldova has been sliding into yet another crisis following the resignation of its prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, and fears that Russia was plotting a coup to overthrow the pro-western president, Maia Sandu. At a press conference in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on February 13, Sandu confirmed earlier accusations made by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, […]Continue Reading