Headlines

Gwangju massacre deniers still seek comfort in North plot

Originally published May 18, 2021, this article is republished five years later to the day with just a bit of updating. More than a week before elite South Korean troops – sent to put down pro-democracy protests in the southwestern city of Gwangju – sparked an uprising with

Asia •

Cuban drone crisis: US fears Russia-China Caribbean threat

As the US confronts growing fears that Russian, Chinese and Iranian-backed drone and intelligence activities are turning Cuba into a new strategic pressure point near US territory, the island is reemerging as a focal point of great-power rivalry in the Western Hemisphere. This

Asia •

Myanmar’s resource curse fueling its forever war

Myanmar’s war is often described as a clash of ideologies, ethnic identities and competing visions of the state. That is true, but incomplete. At its core, Myanmar’s crisis is also a resource-driven conflict, intensified by geography. The generals did not cling to power for the

Asia •

Trump-Xi summit reset cause for concern in Indonesia

The Trump-Xi summit in Beijing was supposed to signal a new phase of calmer US-China relations. Instead, it exposed a deeper reality that should concern Indonesia and much of Southeast Asia, as stability between great powers can sometimes come at the expense of middle powers.

Asia •

Why Iran has already won the war

There is a moment in every great geopolitical confrontation when the outcome becomes structurally inevitable — long before anyone is willing to announce it. Rome understood this when Germanic tribes stopped retreating. Britain understood it in 1947, standing in Delhi with empty

Asia •