Headlines

Trump: Israel never talked me into war with Iran

WASHINGTON, April 20 - President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israel did not persuade him to attack Iran, after news reports that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu influenced the U.S. president's decision and criticism from right-wing commentators.

Asia

‘Friendship to all’ no longer good enough for Bangladesh

Non-alignment once carried enormous moral prestige. For newly independent states emerging from colonial rule, it was not just a foreign policy, but a fierce declaration of identity. However, the international system has fractured. Global politics is no longer divided into Cold

Asia

Consensus shifting on China-style industrial policy

I’ve long been an industrial policy enthusiast. My favorite popular nonfiction book is Joe Studwell’s “How Asia Works”, a synthesis of decades of research about the economic miracles in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. I wrote a whole series of posts examining the successes and

Asia

Terminator now: Robots just seized a Russian position in Ukraine

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced that ground robots (also known as unmanned ground vehicles) had captured a Russian position. Zelenskyy said it was the first time in the Ukraine war that an enemy position had been taken exclusively by robots. Ukraine’s

Asia

Min Aung Hlaing’s PR pardon a script written in Beijing

On April 17, the first day of the Myanmar New Year, Win Myint walked out of Taungoo Prison. He had been arrested in the small hours of February 1, 2021, the morning the military seized power from the government he led. He is Myanmar’s last democratically elected president.

Asia