Will China succeed in what some call its grand strategy of displacing American power? Whichever scenario emerges also depends on the strategy the US chooses in response.

Many Chinese elites saw the Great Recession of 2008 as a sign of American decline. Leaders abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s strategy of hiding capacity and biding their time and became more assertive in ways ranging from building artificial islands in the South China Sea …

China and Russia have formalized their alliance against the West.

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will not go down in history as an exhilarating event; with just a smattering of snow and no spectators, they turned out a rather macabre affair. But when the history of international affairs in our century is written, the 38th meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a …

Israel-Palestine risks becoming a forgotten conflict – the world should pay attention.

In January 2001, US President Bill Clinton met with President-elect George W. Bush and presented him with a priority list of the most important global security issues. At the top were two issues – Osama bin Laden/al Qaeda and “the absence of peace in the Middle East.” The meeting took place shortly after Clinton’s intensive efforts to achieve …

Since mid-August, the Taliban have once again taken full control of Afghanistan. Scenes of a chaotic NATO withdrawal, bungled evacuations and the failure of a twenty-year war effort are shaping Western perceptions.

For several days in succession, Zafar Hashemi* has made the trip to the passport office in Kabul to apply for new travel documents for himself and his family. The jostling in front of the building, located in the …

Religious hatred often begins in schools as seen most recently in the recent escalation of the Middle East conflict. This dangerous dimension has long been ignored, also by the EU.

One has to take a closer look, specifically at what is being taught to children and young people. A sad example from recent years is that Palestinian Authority textbooks encourage violence against Israelis and include antisemitic messages, this is according …

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers decided last week to extend production cuts for another month despite a recent price surge. The latest figures show that Saudi Arabia has been playing around with production volumes. The reliability of the world’s second largest oil power and the integrity of OPEC are being put to the test.

It seems paradoxical: despite the continued tense corona situation, oil …

It almost seemed as if international jihadism was on the retreat: the so-called caliphate also known as the Islamic State (IS) or by its Arabic acronym Daesh destroyed, the so-called caliph killed, his followers scattered to the winds. But five years after the devastating attack on the Bataclan in Paris, the fanatics in Europe are back. A wave of attacks carried out by Islamist militants in Paris, Nice, Dresden, Vienna …

The war in Donbass has already lasted longer than Russia’s involvement in World War II. Seventy-five years ago, the grandfathers of most of those who are still killing each other in Eastern Ukraine today, toiled in trenches nearby. As in every war, the logic of revenge and forgiveness has long since ripped itself away from politics.

We all remember how, a few months ago, the Ukrainian president flew to the …

Ukrainians are weary of war. Seventy percent of them chose peace as their top wish for the new year, despite several other crises facing the country, like poverty and corruption. Such were the results of the most recent survey of its kind at the end of 2019. Much like it was during his successful campaign for president, peace in Ukraine was the centerpiece of Volodymyr Zelensky’s new year’s address to …

When Federica Mogherini became the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in November 2014, she was optimistic about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. At the time, she suggested that it might even be possible to reach a two-state solution within her five-year term. Today, Mogherini’s successor, Josep Borrell, has taken over the reins at the EU foreign office, and there has been no progress whatsoever …