This article is based upon a paper given on 27 August 2021 at the NIICE International Studies Convention, hosted in Katmandu by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE). This paper briefly discusses Russian Orthodoxy and its contemporary use as a tool of soft power. The Russian state appears to position itself as a…

Political pressure and anxiety over a fourth wave of the Coronavirus is now replacing clinical data and science. President Joe Biden’s overused talking point in stating ‘science will dictate the vaccines’ seems to be going by the wayside with the White House pressuring the Food and Drug Administration following a pre-emptive announcement to…

The volatile geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa and its unstable balance of power in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings in the Arab world and the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal have correspondingly influenced the political relations between Israel and the Arab states around the Persian Gulf to become strategically stronger and diplomatically…

The Taliban have declared a general amnesty and announced that no one will be arrested or punished. They have announced to be protecting everyone, including all Afghan nationals, irrespective of their affiliation, race, ethnicity, faction, religion, ideology, etc. Similarly, they have guaranteed the safety of all embassies, UN missions, diplomats…

After the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan, Arab countries are wondering whether Syria – which has hundreds of American soldiers – will be the next country to witness a U.S. withdrawal. This was already stated in an analytical article in Foreign Policy magazine.Source: Reuters The piece says that given current U.S. President Joe Biden’s…

Krieg ist das Ergebnis einer falschen Politik und sein Erbe Not und Elend.1 (From Gestrüpp meines Lebens, a diary kept by my grandfather, Helmuth Banik)Source: Wikipedia ...next – Prussia, family roots and identity of heart Cultural diversity or universal uniformity? Peaceful co-existence of nation-states or institutional global governance with…

With the reform process in Ukraine slowing down and no end to the conflict in the Donbass in sight, how successful has EU policy been in Ukraine?Source: 061.uaUkraine is deep in the integration process with the EU and although there are certainly many prominent voices in Ukraine which are judgemental of the country’s European turn, the people, the…

The Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan was a “black-swan” event that completely changed the geostrategic situation in Central and South Asia. It also resulted in Russia’s pragmatic ties with the Taliban coming to the forefront of global attention after its officials’ generally positive assessments of the group, which their…

It was only a matter of time before vaccine mandates and passports entered the mainstream dialogue. It started with floating out the narrative in gaining public support of the vaccinated and claiming the virus as a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The us and them divide has been created. National levels of government then took the lead in requiring…

Smoother than the transition of presidential powers in Washington, the Taliban1 entered Kabul, witj no single bullet fired, no one killed, no one injured, no one arrested. It was a war welcome by the local residents with no resistance at all.Source: Reuters The world has witnessed the peaceful entry of the Taliban into Kabul. The city is very much…

Two reasons make this week an historic one for international diplomacy: it was the first time that an Indian Prime Minister chaired a UNSC meeting that in turn resulted in this global body issuing its first joint statement on maritime security. India prioritizes maritime security because of the interests that it has in its eponymous ocean. The…

The mining of crypto-currencies requires a large amount of electricity to be carried out, making it a significant challenge with the overall electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin equivalent to the annual consumption of electricity in New Zealand and growing at the time of writing.Source: Reuters In consequence, while some governments are actively…