Asia
Pakistan’s Establishment Could Shape the Election. It Could Not Completely Shape the Voters.
Pakistan’s general election has produced exactly the kind of result that makes the word “winner” unusually difficult to use. Candidates aligned with imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan have won more National Assembly constituencies than…
The ICJ Did Not Rule That Israel Is Committing Genocide. What It Did Say Still Matters.
The International Court of Justice issued one of the most closely watched legal decisions of the Gaza war on Friday. South Africa has accused Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention through its military campaign…
Iran and Pakistan Both Say They Were Fighting Terrorists. They Ended Up Bombing Each Other.
Iran and Pakistan exchanged military strikes across their shared border this week in one of the most serious confrontations between the two neighbours in years. On Tuesday, Iran launched missiles and drones into Pakistan’s southwestern…
America and Britain Have Bombed the Houthis. The Hard Question Is Whether Punishment Will Actually Make Them Stop.
The United States and Britain launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, hitting sites associated with missiles, drones, radar and other military capabilities after weeks of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red…
Nobody Says They Want a Regional War. That Does Not Mean the Region Cannot End Up in One.
The war that began in Gaza three months ago is increasingly becoming a regional system of interconnected confrontations. Hamas deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut on Tuesday, in an explosion widely attributed…
The Houthis Cannot Control Global Trade. They Have Discovered They Do Not Need To.
A conflict that began in Gaza is increasingly affecting container ships thousands of kilometres away. Yemen’s Houthi movement has launched missiles and drones towards commercial vessels travelling through the Red Sea and has seized at…
Pakistan Will Hold an Election in February. The More Important Contest Is Already Happening.
Pakistan finally has an election date. The Election Commission announced this week that the country’s general election will take place on 8 February 2024, ending months of uncertainty over when voters will choose a new…
Israel Has a Right to Defend Itself. That Does Not Mean Every Method of Defence Is Automatically Justified.
Israel expanded its ground operations inside Gaza this weekend, three weeks after Hamas launched the deadliest attack on Israelis in the country’s history. On 7 October, Hamas-led militants crossed from Gaza into southern Israel, attacking…
Canada Says India May Have Been Involved in a Killing on Canadian Soil. The Evidence Now Matters More Than the Politics.
Relations between India and Canada have deteriorated dramatically this week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canada’s Parliament that Canadian security agencies were investigating what he described as “credible allegations” of a potential link between…
India Did Not Choose Between the West, Russia and the Global South at the G20. That May Be Exactly Why It Mattered.
The G20 summit concluded in New Delhi today with an outcome that looked surprisingly conventional considering how divided its members have become. The group produced a consensus declaration despite disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,…
BRICS Is Getting Bigger. That Does Not Necessarily Mean It Is Becoming More Powerful.
BRICS decided this week to invite six additional countries into the organisation. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa…
China’s Economic Model Helped Produce One of History’s Greatest Growth Stories. It May Now Be Becoming the Problem.
China’s economy is sending increasingly uncomfortable signals. The property crisis that began with heavily indebted developers such as Evergrande has spread towards Country Garden, previously considered one of the healthier major private developers. Consumer spending…
