Stuck between past and present, Lenin lingers on in parts of ex-USSR
On a recent morning a small group of pensioners gathered round a monument to Communist leader Vladimir Lenin in a far-flung corner of the bygone empire he helped found. The…
Multilateral woes
THE arrival in Kyiv last week of an American emissary with a Russian-drafted ultimatum for the Ukrainian leadership sparked a panic among the latter’s EU/Nato allies. They discussed the bombshell…
The fourth ‘A’
THE United Nations General Assembly functions as an air-pump: it inflates the egos of national leaders. The UNGA provides them a stage in New York where, (in Shakespeare’s words), they…
The trouble with the Arabs
TO be sustainable, Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza must serve the core interests of Arabs, including Christian Arabs, and the Jews of Palestine/Israel equally and fairly. Infirmities in the…
Hidden watermark
THE atomic mushroom cloud has changed shape: it is now a nuclear umbrella. Historically, an umbrella has symbolised ‘protection, power, and prestige’. (The Thai king has nine above his head.)…
The revolution that made a superpower
The Chinese take the first week of October off to celebrate the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The establishment of the PRC was the fruit…
The false rumble of change
THE world is in ferment but is South Asia feeling the rumble? Europe is on edge. It’s losing the Ukraine war, and the leaders of France, Germany and the UK, to…
The start of a new world
The recent SCO Summit, combined with the Victory Day parade in China, marked a significant move to achieve the goal of a new multipolar world. The presence of Russian President…
The US is nobody’s ally
QUITE a few in India, America and Europe seem to have sighted a terrifying apparition with horns and canines as it were. A faux debate has been unleashed over Narendra…
Chinese checkers
AFICIONADOS of spectacular martial displays will no doubt find today’s military parade in Beijing considerably more impressive than the one that marked 250 years of the US Army (as well as Donald…
