Showing results for "2 march"

India serves its national interest through strategic autonomy

  • At the end of June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned home from a visit to the US that had included all the pomp and pageantry of a high-profile state visit. A joint statement described the two countries “as among the closest partners in the world.” The statement also reiterated the ...
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Behind the facade, it is politics as usual in Iraq

  • Iraq’s parliament on Monday passed a $153 billion budget for 2023, the largest in the country’s history. This reflected a brief moment of consensus among Iraq’s feuding politicians, whose infighting had delayed it by six months. Anticipating problems in the coming years, the parliament approved...
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Japan clings to 'middle path' amid domestic, regional challenges

  • Japan’s normally sedate political scene is witnessing unprecedented drama. On July 8, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency in Tokyo due to the raging pandemic and banned spectators from attending the Olympic Games starting on July 23. This reversed an earlier position that 10,0...
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Afghanistan faces its 'new chapter' with trepidation

  • US President Joe Biden last weekend hosted the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his no. 2 and arch-rival Abdullah Abdullah at the White House. Biden confirmed that US troops would leave Afghanistan, as scheduled, by Sept. 11. He then made the rather innocuous remark that “Afghans are going to ...
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Iraq struggles with its Daesh legacy

  • A UN team that had, over the previous two and a half years, investigated Daesh’s atrocities against Iraq’s Yazidi community and other crimes this month submitted its report to the UN Security Council. The head of the team, British lawyer Karim Khan, told the council that the terror group had in...
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Russia’s expanding footprint in the Middle East

  • Over the last month or so, the shadow of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has loomed large across the Middle East. In March, he visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He was soon back in the region, visiting Egypt and Iran on April 12-13. Russia became a key player in the Middle East w...
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As the Syrian conflict completes 10 years, new diplomatic initiatives are taking shape

  • The 10-year commemoration of Syria’s bloody civil conflict in March has evoked expressions of anguish and some new diplomatic initiatives. Nearly half-a-million people have been killed and several million more displaced since the conflict started on March 15, 2011. The UN Secretary-General, A...
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The Quad does not serve India’s security interests

  • On March 12, the leaders of four countries — the US, India, Japan and Australia — signaled the emergence of a new coalition that would be active in the affairs of the “Indo-Pacific.” This was announced at an online summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, briefly referred to as “Quad.” I...
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Elections do not reflect Palestinian aspirations

  • On Jan. 15, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that elections to the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) would be held May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and elections to the 351-member Palestinian National Council on Aug. 31. These will be the first elections fo...
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Pre-election challenges have Netanyahu in a corner

  • Challenges bring out the best in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — such as his political acumen and his ability to turn every crisis to his advantage. His deft handling of Israel’s diverse and contentious politics has enabled him to remain as PM for a total of 15 years. Now, a month b...
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