By the 3 Musketeers, we mean Russia, China and Saudi Arabia. The Shanghai 5 & The Grand Chessboard The first Chechen war ended in mid-1995. Russian President Boris Yeltsin was worried that unrest in the Caucasus would spread to other Russian provinces in its south-the so-called “soft underbelly of Russia. He flew to China, met […]
Introduction In 1904 in a speech before the Royal Geographical Society in London British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, a firm advocate of the British Empire, presented what is arguably one of the most influential documents in world foreign policy of the past two hundred years since the Battle of Waterloo. His short speech was titled […]
In 1929, a border dispute between Jordan and Saudi Arabia led to clashes, with the British backing Jordan. When Standard Oil heard about this, their agents got in touch with Ibn Saud, reached an understanding, and proceeded to bankroll him with gold coins and rifles. This led to increased American-Saudi contacts. In 1932, the Kingdom […]
Preparing for War The US sanctions imposed on Russia began after the Ukraine coup in 2014. For the past eight years, more sanctions were added. When Russia started its special military operation, even more sanctions were added, which made Russia the most sanctioned nation on earth – with nearly 6,000 sanctions! The Russian-speaking Donetsk and […]
Russia & China in the Middle East By the series of actions in recent months in Iraq and across the Middle East, Washington has forced a strategic shift towards China and to an extent Russia and away from the United States. If events continue on the present trajectory it can well be that a main […]
Tibet is a region in East Asia covering much of the Tibetan Plateau spanning about 2.5 million km2. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 5,000m and located in the Himalayas, the highest […]
Actions within the US and nations allied to the US suggest an accelerated attack on personal liberties is at hand. There are sister foundations to the CFR in many other countries. For example, in Australia they have the highly embedded and influential Strategic Policy Institute, which has been consistently advocating for complete centralization of government […]
Background. There were 4 major trends happening in Iraq, and its convergence led to a blow-up in the country, followed by the death of Qasem Soleimani. They are as follows ; The frustration of the Iraqi people at the government and the undue and resentful influence of Iran in Iraq; the role of outside powers […]
In October 2019, China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It has been a great and terrible time for China, as history has been for most countries. But China is a nation on a scale that dwarfs other countries – and, therefore, both its greatness and tragedy dwarf […]
The study of world power has been blighted by Eurocentric historians who have distorted and ignored the dominant role China played in the world economy between 1100 and 1800. It is especially important to emphasize how China, the world technological power between 1100 and 1800, made the West’s emergence possible. It was only by borrowing […]
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