In contemporary politics, the invocation of tragedy has the unfortunate effect of masking the responsibility of perpetrators who cause injustices and human suffering through malicious intent and deliberate wrongdoing, writes Mariana Budjeryn
View More Calling the war in Ukraine a ‘tragedy’ shelters its perpetrators from blame and responsibility
Brics is a nebulous entity. This has proved beneficial for member countries hosting Brics summits. They get to set the agenda and use it for their ends – without upsetting the consensus. One common pattern has been the use of summits to set overarching themes that are favourable to the host country’s domestic policy and regional leadership or foreign policy stance.
View More Brics expansion: six more nations are set to join – what they’re buying into
Some three decades since the end of the Cold War, the world order is undergoing a structural transformation. At the heart of it is the challenge posed to the hegemony of the US. This is primarily being led by Russia and China which are discontented with Washington’s excesses across the global stage. The African continent is an obvious contender for major power courting as this realignment takes place, writes Bhaso Ndzendze.
View More Africa is being courted by China, Russia and the US. Why the continent shouldn’t pick sides
The unwillingness of many leading countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to stand with NATO over the war in Ukraine has brought to the fore once again the term “Global South.” One thing is for sure: The Global South is flexing political and economic muscles that the “developing countries” and the “Third World” never had, writes Jorge Heine.
By Jorge Heine
View More The Global South is on the rise – but what exactly is the Global South?
A new trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which left the EU in 2020, could have finally found a way to safeguard peace in Northern Ireland after Brexit reignited old tensions. There is an element of U.S. foreign policy at work here, too. The U.S. was key to negotiating the 1998 agreement, and successive administrations have championed it as the only way to a sustainable peace.
By Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, Carolyn Gallaher
View More New EU-UK trade deal has promise for Northern Ireland and US as well
Clearly, Putin was not deterred by NATO or the prospect of American opposition. The re-emergence of China as a great power has become the single biggest challenge to American preeminence. Not only is China rapidly becoming a strategic “peer competitor”, it will soon overtake the US as the world’s largest economy. It has already “grown far too big for America to sanction Beijing with its usual toolkit”.
By Mark Beeson
View More Sanctions rarely work, but are they still the least worst option?
Many view the Ukraine war as a result of great power rivalry and do not blame Russia. India and China are buying even more Russian oil and gas. But for now at least, I believe that it’s clear the sanctions have not weakened Putin’s grip on power, nor his resolve – and capacity – to continue waging the war on Ukraine, writes Peter Rutland.
View More How Putin has shrugged off unprecedented economic sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine
European Council president Charles Michel heads to Beijing on December 1, the latest in a procession of western leaders to seek an audience with Xi Jinping. Within the EU, there are clear differences over how to approach China, and they are difficult to paper over, writes Stefan Wolff.
By Stefan Wolff
View More Western leaders are divided over the future of relations with ChinaYou cannot copy content of this page