Sandra Oudkirk, the de facto head of the U.S. embassy in Taipei, continued to stress Washington’s commitment to defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion and said the relationship is “rock solid.” Oudkirk, the head of the American Institute in Taiwan, issued the phrase that has been uttered by many officials in President...
Category: TRENDS IN GEOPOLITICS
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REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENING: POLAND TO DEPLOY ADDITIONAL 10,000 TROOPS AT BORDER
Another strain in the relationship between Poland and the EU has been Warsaw’s approach to handling the migrant crisis along its eastern border with Belarus. Poland has been accused of taking a “heavy-handed” approach to the crisis, by erecting a barbed wire fence and has been accused by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees...
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POLAND’S LINK WITH EU WORSENS. POLEXIT NEXT?
It was to be the court ruling heard across Europe. Warsaw’s Constitutional Tribunal earlier this month ruled that a portion of the EU treaty law—which is the law of the land in Europe—is “incompatible with the Polish constitution” and the country’s constitution should take precedence. (SEE: “POLEXIT PROTESTS IN POLAND: ‘EXIT THE EU’ TREND GROWING”...
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U.S. INTELLIGENCE? AN OXYMORON! NO “INTELLIGENCE” IN AFGHAN FORECAST
No top U.S. intelligence agency predicted that the Taliban would take over Kabul with such ease and before troops were withdrawn from the country in August, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a review of the classified assessments, reported that there was a general consensus that the Taliban were on the...
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AMERICA NEEDS A TECH STRATEGY TO COUNTER CHINA, SAY TOP POLS
A unified approach throughout government agencies, and “cold war” level investments are needed to counter and stay ahead of China in crucial technology competition. That was the takeaway of an event last Thursday sponsored by the Center for New American Security. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), the keynote speaker, noted that federal agencies don’t currently have...
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BIDEN SAYS (AGAIN) U.S. WILL DEFEND TAIWAN IF CHINA INVADES
President Biden said Thursday at a CNN town hall that the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack on the island, which was seen as a clear departure from Washington’s position of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to its military commitment to Taipei. An audience member asked Biden about China. The first part...
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TIGRAY HUMANITARIAN FLIGHT WORSENS. BUT IT’S NOT “NEWS”
Ethiopia, which has already been accused of blocking aid from reaching starving Tigrayans, (See “ETHIOPIA CIVIL WAR = MASS MURDER, MASS STARVATION”) again managed to stop U.N. humanitarian aid by launching missiles at a plane delivering food and medical supplies in Mekelle—the region’s capital. The fighting in northern Ethiopia has intensified over the past two...
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TERROR STRIKES SYRIA: ALL OUT WAR COMING?
The Syrian government called the bombing of a military bus that killed 14 in the heart of Damascus a “terrorist bombing,” but no organization claimed responsibility for the attack. The New York Times reported that the bus bombing—inside the capital—could be a clear sign to President Bashar al-Assad that he is not insulated from these kinds...
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ETHIOPIA CIVIL WAR = MASS MURDER, MASS STARVATION
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the former Nobel Peace Prize winner who was recently sworn in for another term, called on federal troops in the country to conduct a new offensive in Tigray, raising new fears of an even worsening humanitarian crisis in the region. The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the war in Tigray and...
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JOKER’S WILD: NATO TO CHALLENGE CHINA
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, said in an interview published Monday that the organization will work to figure out the best way to counter China’s new military technologies and cyber capabilities while insisting that Beijing is no “adversary.” He told the Financial Times that the region faces a wide range of issues over the next decade, but said...