Western sanctions against Russia appear to have a fairly narrow, tangible goal: to punish Moscow for supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. But to what end? Sanctions need to reinforce a wider strategy designed to change Moscow’s behaviour so that it starts respecting the sovereignty of all post-Soviet states. Ukraine is just the latest example in a long series of …

Beyond the popular movement for freedom which started three years ago and spread all over the Middle East, the region is currently facing a much more serious situation. An extra-governmental, radical insurgent group, the ISIS, is gaining control over vast territories while capturing major cities and rich oil fields in Iraq. This marks one of the defining moments of the …

Goodbye Moon. Every year, the Moon slips a few centimetres away from us, slowing down our day. Why is the Moon drifting away from us, and how long will it take before the Earth and the Moon are tidally locked to each other? A long time ago the Mars-sized object Theia, collided with the Earth and the Moon was formed …

The pace and rapidity with which the fragile state-building process in Iraq has imploded is almost unbelievable. Observers around the world are stunned by the speed and scope of the assaults on every major city in the upper Tigris River Valley ‘ including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city ‘ by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has been marching …

The leadership turnover in China has taken place in a shifting political situation. There have been increased calls for more political accountability and multi-candidate elections, broader media freedom and financial reform. We need to watch this closely. The behaviour of Chinese leadership for change will determine whether China will continue its phenomenal ‘rise’ or will it be hampered by the …

India’s new Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, due to his nationalist tendencies, has been compared to Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Shinzo Abe, Tayyip Erdogan and Mahinda Rajapaksa. Commentators have variously described him as assertive, dynamic and authoritarian. Many believe he is a genuine economic reformer. Others worry about his ‘and his BJP’s hard-line and pro-Hindutva credentials, and wonder whether …

The highlight of President Putin’s visit to Shanghai in May 2014 was the signing of a 30-year accord to supply China with natural gas through a new pipeline from the Russian Far East. It was no spur-of-the-moment agreement in response to Western threats over the Ukrainian crisis, but rather the product of a decade-long negotiation. From the start, the logic …

Modi completes a quartet of combative leaders in the most powerful nations of the region Finally, India has a new prime minister; and each of Asia’s four most powerful nations is now led by a combative nationalist. The multilateralist assumptions of the postwar order are giving way to a return to great power competition. Nationalism is on the march, and …

Public opinion reports on Americans’ attitudes toward foreign policy sketch a picture of retrenchment, war-weariness, and scepticism toward global engagement, even as there is also a growing concern that the world is increasingly becoming unstable and dangerous. Nothing about this picture is new or controversial. Some may worry about it more than others, but it is now commonly accepted that …

‘This is how wars end in the 21st century; not through signing ceremonies, but through decisive blows against our adversaries, transitions to elected governments, security forces who are trained to take the lead and, ultimately, full responsibility.’ Barack Obama President Obama, recently, announced that all US forces will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, just before he …