The biggest geopolitical risk of our times is not a conflict between Israel and Iran over nuclear proliferation. Nor is it the risk of chronic disorder in an arc of instability that now runs from the Maghreb all the way to the Hindu Kush. It is not even the risk of Cold War II between Russia and the West over …

Putin’s takeover of Crimea scares US leaders because it challenges America’s global dominance. This crisis is serious and threatening, so much so that some commentators even compare it to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Thanassis Cambanis has summarized the core issue succinctly in The Boston Globe: ‘Putin’s annexation of the Crimea is a break in the order that America …

A friend who has followed the Bric story noted sardonically that they are probably “fresher” than the Brics. What they really share beyond having a lot of people, is that at least for the next 20 years, they have really good “inner” demographics’ they are all going to see a rise in the number of people eligible to work relative …

There is a notable difference between the intensity of support for Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Seven-in-ten Indians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in India today. The Indian public, by a margin of more than three-to-one, would prefer the Hindu-nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to lead the next Indian government rather than the Indian National Congress …

On February 7, 1845, US Congressman John D. Cummins rose in the US House of Representatives to clamour for US possession of the Oregon Territory, then occupied jointly by the United States and Britain. He declared that these opulent Northwest lands were ‘the master key of the commerce of the universe.’ ‘Put that territory under US jurisdiction,’ he argued, ‘and …

Europe is in the throes of its most dangerous crisis since the end of the cold war. When President Viktor Yanukovich, recently, was toppled in Kiev, the world wondered how the Kremlin would respond to the fall of its cherished ally and the threat that Ukraine might shift westwards. But, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, gave his uncompromising answer when …

The strategic environment around Pakistan is evolving and changing rapidly. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s internal environment remains unchanged and, if it is evolving, then so far there are no signs that it is evolving in the right direction.

Saudi Arabia has turned into a country of surprises and shocks almost overnight. First, its Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, refused to give his speech at the UN General Assembly, in September, due to its ‘double standards; and, second, his ministry has declined the membership of the UN Security Council due to the group’s failure to resolve the Palestinian issue, …

The influential media in the United States continues to be preoccupied with the aftermath of the government shutdown, and especially with the Obamacare’ the object of the Republicans’ continuous ire. The other object of ‘Republicans versus Democrats’ dispute was resolved when the Republicans gave in and agreed to raise the ceiling for the national debt. The Second Liberty Bond Act …

The warm waters of the Gulf look quiet but such tranquillity hardly reflects the conflicts this region continues to generate. The euphoria of the so-called Arab Spring is long gone, what remains is a region that is rich with resources and burdened with easily manipulated history that is in a state of reckless transition. No one can see what the …