Tag Archives: China

Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- July/Aug 2023

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Foreign Affairs – July/August 2023 issue:

The Treacherous Path to a Better Russia

Ukraine’s Future and Putin’s Fate

There is good reason to be pessimistic about the prospects of Russia’s changing course under Putin. He has taken his country in a darker, more authoritarian direction, a turn intensified by the invasion of Ukraine.

China Is Ready for a World of Disorder

America Is Not

In March, at the end of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin stood at the door of the Kremlin to bid his friend farewell. Xi told his Russian counterpart, “Right now, there are changes—the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years—and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Putin, smiling, responded, “I agree.”

An Unwinnable War

Diego Mallo

Washington Needs an Endgame in Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a moment of clarity for the United States and its allies. An urgent mission was before them: to assist Ukraine as it countered Russian aggression and to punish Moscow for its transgressions. While the Western response was clear from the start, the objective—the endgame of this war—has been nebulous.

The Korea Model

Why an Armistice Offers the Best Hope for Peace in Ukraine

In the middle of August 1952, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai traveled nearly 4,000 miles to Moscow to meet with the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin… The two Communist powers were allies at the time, but it was not a partnership of equals: the Soviet Union was a superpower, and China depended on it for economic assistance and military equipment.

Previews: The Economist Magazine – June 17, 2023

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The Economist Magazine– June 17, 2023 issue: America’s new best friend – Why India is indispensable.

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi are drawing their countries closer

India does not love the West, but it is indispensable to America

No country except China has propped up Russia’s war economy as much as oil-thirsty India. And few big democracies have slid further in the rankings of democratic freedom. But you would not guess it from the rapturous welcome Narendra Modi will receive in Washington next week. India’s prime minister has been afforded the honour of a state visit by President Joe Biden. The Americans hope to strike defence deals.

Lula’s ambitious plans to save the Amazon clash with reality

The Brazilian president faces resistance from Congress, the state oil company and agribusiness

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is making mixed progress

Its real test will come when it hits Russia’s prepared defences

Charlemagne: Why Europe’s asylum policy desperately needs rebooting

A deadly shipwreck in Greek waters highlights its dangers

News: China Fighter Jets Enter Taiwan Airspace, EU Creates New ‘Ethics Body’

The Globalist Podcast, Friday, June 9, 2023: China enters Taiwanese airspace and Japanese waters. Is this business as usual or a serious escalation?

Plus: the EU’s “Hogwarts for ambassadors”, the latest fashion news and the White Cube gallery heads to Seoul.

Travel: A Tour Of Dali In Yunnan Province, China

Walk East Films (June 4, 2023) – Dali is a city in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, on the shores of Erhai Lake. Its history stretches back to the kingdom of Nanzhao (8th century). The walled old city, from the Ming dynasty, contains traditional homes and towers from the Bai ethnic minority.

Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 2:52 sunrise at Erhai Lake (Longkan Wharf) 20:20 Shuanglang Ancient Town 1:00:09 Old Town of Dali 1:49:14 Grand Theater of Yang Liping 1:55:53 Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple 2:06:50 Xizhou Ancient Town 2:42:15 Shaxi Ancient Town 3:15:18 Dali Santorini Sea View Villa Area 3:38:50 Erhai Lake Bike Tour 4:13:57 Downtown Area of Dali City 4:32:02 Shuanglang Ancient Town (2nd Version) 5:01:49 Morning Tour in Old Town of Dali 5:20:26 Mountain Top Park 5:24:34 Road trip to Shaxi Town

Beyond the old city rise the Three Pagodas of Chong Sheng Temple, dating to the 9th century.The walled old city, from the Ming dynasty, contains traditional homes and towers from the Bai ethnic minority. Beyond the old city rise the Three Pagodas of Chong Sheng Temple, dating to the 9th century. 

Views: Ukraine’s Zelensky On The Counteroffensive

Wall Street Journal (June 3, 2023) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker in Odesa ahead of his meeting with European leaders to press for membership in NATO and as the world waits for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia.

Video timeline: 0:00 Ukraine’s counteroffensive 0:50 Ukraine’s long-term security and Western allies 2:23 U.S. election’s effect on Ukraine 4:03 Ukrainian weapons 5:44 NATO and Ukraine 7:05 Zelensky’s thoughts on China 7:38 How Zelensky is personally dealing with the war

#Ukraine#Zelensky#WSJ

News: Asia Defense Summit, China-U.S. Tensions, OPEC Meeting, Nigeria President

The Globalist Podcast, Friday, June 2, 2023: Asia’s top security meeting, IISS Shangri-La Dialogue kicks off but China refuses to talk to the US on the sidelines.

Plus: several media groups are banned from Opec’s production meeting this weekend; we check in on how Nigeria’s new president is faring and we ask, “What is lake cow bacon?” 

Previews: The Economist Magazine – May 27, 2023

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The Economist Magazine– May 27, 2023 issue: The race to become the Republican nominee for the presidential election in America next year is properly under way. And Donald Trump has a huge, perhaps insurmountable, lead. 

Ron DeSantis has little chance of beating Donald Trump

Hopes of depriving the former president of the Republican nomination are fading

Belatedly and nervously, the would-be assassins have been lining up. On May 22nd Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, became the latest Republican to announce a run for president. Greater fanfare accompanied the official declaration (on Twitter) on May 24th that Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is joining the race for the Republican nomination. He has been widely heralded as the candidate with the best chance of defeating the favourite, Donald Trump. But even as more plotters step forward, the chances of a successful coup to overthrow Mr Trump are growing slimmer by the day.

What would humans do in a world of super-AI?

A thought experiment based on economic principles

In “wall-e”, a film released in 2008, humans live in what could be described as a world of fully automated luxury communism. Artificially intelligent robots, which take wonderfully diverse forms, are responsible for all productive labour. People get fat, hover in armchairs and watch television. 

Hungary is becoming more important to China

Viktor Orban and Xi Jinping bond over their anti-Americanism

To ears accustomed to a swelling chorus of China-scepticism in the European Union, the language of Hungarian diplomats is striking. Not for them the common talk of European officials about the need to “de-risk” relations with China and to treat it as a “systemic rival”. Co-operation between Hungary and China presents “opportunities rather than risks”, said Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, in Beijing on May 15th. Wang Yi, China’s foreign-affairs overlord, told him that relations between the countries had entered their “best period in history”.

News: Zelensky Meets With G7 In Japan, De-Risking In China, Greece Election

The Globalist, May 22, 2023: Zelensky meets with leader at G7 meeting in Japan, de-risking with China, and Greece’s center-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis scores big victory in Greece elections.

#Greece #KyriakosMitsotakis #Election

Previews: The Economist Magazine – May 20, 2023

Business | May 20th 2023 Edition

The Economist – May 20, 2023 issue:

Joe Biden’s global vision is too timid and pessimistic

The president underestimates America’s strengths and misunderstands how it acquired them

In the 1940s and early 1950s America built a new world order out of the chaos of war. For all its shortcomings, it kept the peace between superpowers and underpinned decades of growth that lifted billions out of poverty. Today that order, based on global rules, free markets and an American promise to uphold both, is fraying. Toxic partisanship at home has corroded confidence in America’s government. 

China and the West take a step to ease Africa’s debt crisis

A deal for Ghana is the first test case for a new approach

A man holds a 100 cedis, the Ghana currency, note in Accra, Ghana, on December 1, 2022. - Ghana is battling its worst economic crisis in decades.The government on December 14, 2022 signed a $3 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund in a bid to shore up its public finances, but economic stability is still a way off.Once applauded as a haven of economic stability and security in a region plagued by coups and jihadist wars, Ghana has steadily lost investor confidence as its economy slipped into crisis. (Photo by Nipah Dennis / AFP) (Photo by NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Ghana made history when it led the wave of sub-Saharan African countries that won independence more than six decades ago. It may now be making history again, as the first test case for a new approach to debt relief. China and Western governments may have overcome one barrier to restructuring the billions of dollars owed by countries with unsustainable debts.

News: Canada’s Trudeau In South Korea, Thailand’s ‘Move Forward’ Party Win

The Globalist, May 17, 2023: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has arrived in South Korea for a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Thailand progressive Move Forward party won more votes than any other but faces an uphill struggle to form government.