Trump walks away from Syria – and Republican allies
Donald Trump's abrupt reversal of policy in Syria plunged his presidency into even deeper isolation Monday, right when the ex-real estate tycoon needs all the allies he can get to…
Pakistan’s diplomatic offensive
Whether one agrees with PM Imran Khan’s political philosophy or not, one just cannot disagree with what he said on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during…
CPEC going global
It is reported that the Asian Development Bank, under its programme "Scoping of Economic Corridor Development in Pakistan", aims to identify potential economic corridors to enhance trade, regional connectivity, growth,…
Turkey’s restructuring stalls as banks, government wrestle with bad debt
Efforts to clean up Turkey's bad debt have stalled after bankers rejected or put on hold initial plans, according to people familiar with the matter, frustrating the country's attempts to…
Turkey drills off Cyprus in bid for regional influence
When Turkey dispatched a second ship to drill for oil and gas in disputed waters off Cyprus last month, it drew fire not just from rival Nicosia but also the…
Istanbul’s pragmatic vote
HE who wins Istanbul wins Turkey. Such was the maxim popularised by none other than Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the days when the AKP (Justice and Development Party)…
Deadly influences
AMONG the broadly sensible recommendations at the end of the report, released last week, by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions following an “investigation into the…
Negative numbers
IN the 67 years since the founding of the modern republic of Egypt, that country of over 99 million souls has seen one democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, who ruled…
An ill wind
TO some this will read like apologia. To others it will perhaps seem like a last, defeated gasp escaping the throats of those being slowly digested in the belly of…
Coercive diplomacy
“LET us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate,” president John F. Kennedy famously said in his inaugural address in January 1961. In those wise…
