While many easily dismissed North Korea’s nuclear capabilities before just three months ago, it is time to seriously evaluate North Korea’s nuclear threats. At the beginning of July 2017, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea officially stated that the missile it tested reached an altitude of […]
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. Carl Vinson Strike Group made up of an aircraft carrier and several missile destroyers and missile cruisers has been deployed towards the Korean peninsula. This U.S. action could be seen as a response to North Korea’s intensified missile and nuclear threats. North Korea has […]
Introduction On 7th March 2017, the US confirmed that the ‘first elements’ of the controversial THAAD missile defence system had been sent to an air base near Seoul in South Korea, a day after North Korea tested four ballistic missiles. According to the BBC, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported […]
Introduction The US President-elect, Donald Trump, alarmed the world with his recent Twitter post. According to his Twitter, Mr. Trump expressed his willingness to ‘‘greatly strengthen and expand’’ the United States’ ‘‘nuclear capability.’’ Although some of Trump’s advisors came out to claim that Trump’s Twitter could not represent his […]
Introduction On the 15 December 2016, a Chinese naval ship captured a US underwater drone near the disputed islands in the South China Sea, which is roughly 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines. The action of capturing the drone has triggered the US diplomatic protest […]
Introduction Over the past few weeks, major international issues happened regarding Trump’s position on the Taiwan issue. The first incident happened at the beginning of December 2016. On December 2nd, 2016, the President-elect Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen. According to Trump’s Twitter, Mrs. Tsai’s […]
On 2 December 2016, the President-elect of the US, Donald Trump, picked up a phone call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. According to Trump’s Twitter, the main conversation revolved around Ms. Tsai’s congratulating Trump on his victory in the 2016 US presidential election. However, the phone conversation between Mr. Trump and […]
In September 2016, North Korea conducted its fifth and the largest nuclear test. In December 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to impose a new round of sanctions on North Korea in response to the September test. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon describes the sanctions as the toughest […]
As tensions between Myanmar’s military and ethnic militant groups escalated in northern Myanmar, thousands of Myanmar people have been displaced or fled their homes. As reported by CCTV and the Dhaka Tribune, 2,600 people have been displaced and are temporarily living in monasteries in the town of Muse, and over […]
Over the past few weeks, tensions in Kashmir have escalated from grassroots level protests to military exchanges between two nuclear-armed states: India and Pakistan. As reported by Xinhua News, troops of India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire and targeted each other’s positions on the Line of Control (LoC), the […]
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had his first four-day state visit to China between the 18th to the 21st of October 2016. A meeting was held on the 20th of October between China’s President Xi Jinping and Duterte, and Xi described the state visit of Duterte as a ‘milestone.’ The visit shows […]
Introduction The standoff between North and South Korea in the Korean Peninsula has not yet been resolved and has always remained as one of the most dangerous regional flash points. Despite regional and international actors’ dedications in de-escalating the tensions, the strategic environment on the Korean Peninsula has become more […]
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte demanded the departure of the United States military personnel in the southern islands of Mindanao. Mindanao is the Muslim-majority islands of the Philippines and the islands have been suffering from insurgency and terrorism. The remaining US military personnel are the military advisers for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. […]
The Myanmar government and military called for participation of ethnic minority armed groups to attend a new round of peace talks in the capital, NayPyiTaw, this month. The peace talks are aimed at resolving the prolonged conflicts between various ethnic minority armed groups and the government. 17 out of 41 […]
Gabon, located in Western Africa, has been a relatively stable country since independence in 1960. As a former France colony, Gabon maintains its close ties with France under the system named “Francafrique”. As BBC’s “Gabon country profile” explains, Gabon receives political and military support from France in exchange for business […]
