Yesterday, the media questioned the American presence in Afghanistan. Today, the media are crying wolf over the chaos of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Tomorrow, the media will blame the US government(s) for its long overdue (successful) troop withdrawal. It's always the same: the media are like an eternal opposition party. I expect this approach from liberal-left...
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan is causing concerns amongst its immediate neighbours: China, Iran and Pakistan. Russia is no longer a neighbour of Afghanistan but the Soviet Union was. The Soviet invasion in Afghanistan lasted from 1979-1989. The Soviet withdrawal in 1989 resulted in a corridor between Afghanistan and China. A map shows the various Afghan...
"On 28 June 1914, the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis. In response, on 23 July Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians, and the two moved to a war footing. A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the...
One of my favourite movies is Kingdom of Heaven (IMDb), albeit for different reasons than you might expect. The movie shows several historic events besides the Crusades: the weakening of the Sasanian Empire of Iran (Persia), the rise of Islam, and the fall of the Golden Age of Islam. This 2005 movie changed my perspective on that region. Wiki:...
For some time, I have been considering today's blog title. Yesterday's blog already put this question in a broader perspective. Still, it seems that any revolution leads to an autocracy (eg, Cuba, Nicaragua, Russia, Venezuela). At the other side of the political spectrum, coup d'états usually also turn into autocracies (eg, African continent). Initially, I assumed...
As of 2018, the US has been installing sanctions against allies, neighbours, frenemies and enemies. Sometimes it feels like every country is on the US sanctions list. Recently, a Russian representative to the UN tweeted: "Let us welcome the United Sanctions of America!” (Guardian) A recent FT article ("Donald Trump takes deployment of sanctions to new level")...
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