Int’l Affairs

A revolution that transforms the world’s second biggest economy “The world has seen China’s accelerating reform and opening up, and its determination to carry it forward. China’s reforms will never stop, and its doors will only open ever wider.” — China’s President Xi Jinping (in his New Year Speech) China’s opening up and reforms do not have an extensive history. …

After more than 17 years of conflict, the White House has signalled its intent to withdraw from Afghanistan. Washington’s current efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban highlight its increasing impatience with the enduring war in Afghanistan and its desire to leave the conflict. It needs to be remembered that the United States, which sent troops to Afghanistan …

The year 2018 witnessed many important political affairs in the Middle East; from Syrian civil war to Israel-Palestine peace process stalemate, from the war against ISIL in Iraq to the warfare in Yemen. Although the dawn of peace emerged in some regional wars, the year 2019 might be another tumultuous year for the Middle East and regional states. Since many …

Europe is gradually emerging as the world’s new superpower. Experts believe that within a couple of decades, the European Union will equal – if not surpass – the United States as the dominant economic force on the world stage. At present, the EU is enormously prosperous and technologically advanced. It encompasses four of the Big Seven economic powers: Germany, Great …

According to Goldman Sachs, the momentum of global economic growth slowed markedly in 2018. The most globally significant slowdown has been in the Chinese economy – the main engine of global growth since the financial crisis of 2007-08. But, Germany and Japan also recorded economic contractions in the third quarter of last year, i.e. 2018. Stock markets have also been …

The Making of a 2020 Recession “Remove the crutches that have supported global growth for a decade, throw in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, add a dash of wage inflation and a side dish of Brexit and you have a recipe that may prove rather unpalatable to global markets in 2019.” — Bonham Carter Vice Chairman …

Introduction Law and politics are intertwined; the political ideas derive their legitimacy through the vehicle of law. Francis Fukuyama, while tracing the origins of these political ideas in his celebrated article ‘The End of History’ (that later became main thesis of his book titled ‘The End of History and the Last Man’) noted: “For better or worse, much of Hegel’s …

On December 15, international climate change negotiators reached an agreement, the “Paris Rulebook” at COP24 Katowice, in Poland. The text charts a path forward for countries to set tougher targets for cutting greenhouse gases under the Paris climate agreement, as well as stronger transparency rules for countries in disclosing their emissions. Delegates believe the new rules will ensure that countries …

By: Abdul Rasool Syed All cold wars have the potential to suddenly turn hot, probably only for a moment before the leaderships ‘turn off the war’. This risk exists in the case of Saudi/GCC versus Iran.” — Michael Knights In the Middle Eastern geopolitics, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the key strategic rivals; each trying to have ascendancy over the …

The real work starts now On December 11, during a conference at Marrakech, Morocco, the member states of the United Nations adopted a global compact on migration entitled ‘The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration’. This non-binding accord was finalized in July after 18 months of talks and discussions. A total of 150 governments were represented at the …