By Simon Evenett Given the centrality of China to many international supply chains, there is considerable interest in the impact of COVID-19 on global trade flows. And a troubling trade policy dimension is now coming to light. This column reports on and assesses a finding of the Global Trade Alert that 24 nations have recently imposed export restrictions on medical […]
By George A. Lopez Thirty years ago this week the United Nations Security Council responded to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait with mandatory, comprehensive economic sanctions. By 2000 the UNSC, led by the United States, had imposed powerful embargos in 11 other cases of threats to international peace and security. Despite developing more targeted “smart sanctions” […]
After several months of U.S’ campaign against Chinese telecom giant Huawei claiming the move was due to security concerns, United Kingdom (UK) gave in to Washington’s fear-mongering as London announced a decision to lock Huawei out of their 5G network rollout. While the U.S has always fronted what they call security concerns as the main […]
In what appears to be a bizarre and unprecedented occurrence in International Relations, earlier this week, Taiwan announced that Taiwan had established diplomatic relations with Somaliland – a self-declared independent region on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. Ironically, Somaliland itself isn’t recognised by any nation in Africa neither is it recognized by United […]
Erik Sand. Scholars and strategists have long debated whether cutting off an opponent’s trade is an effective strategy in war. In this debate, success or failure has usually been judged based on whether the state subjected to economic isolation surrenders without being defeated on the battlefield. This approach, however, has missed a more important way […]
By Sameer Lalwani. Strategists of governance, economics, and geopolitics have long known that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. The Sino-Indian border crisis, which now seems under control, is no different. Scuffles in mid-May between Chinese and Indian troops appeared to escalate with People’s Liberation Army actions of unprecedented breadth, size, and coordination across multiple fronts. Though the Indian government sought to keep […]
By Allawi Ssemanda As a result of restless calls for debt relief for African countries due to the inevitable economic meltdown brought about by Covid-19, China’s Debt relief plan for Africa is steadily emerging. It is believed that China is Africa’s Largest single – country creditor and therefore had to lead efforts in discussing debt […]