The Open Village» Asia

The sinking of the Cheonan: A Case of Friendly Fire?

Daniel Ihonvbere — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:30:32 +0000

By now, we’ve all head or read the story about how North Korea allegedly sank the South Korean patrol boat, the Cheonan. What we do not have so far, is categorical evidence that the North Koreans were involved. What we do know for a fact is that on the night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine [...]

Cold War Part Two is here

Daniel Ihonvbere — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:49:45 +0000

The recent news that two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers landed at Venezuela’s Libertador military airfield and “will spend several days carrying out training flights over neutral waters, after which they will return to the base,” signals, in my mind, the beginning of the second phase of the cold war. As we argued here, with [...]

The hunt for oil: Another wasteful $1 Billion foreign aid

Daniel Ihonvbere — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:41:00 +0000

The recent news that once again the Bush administration plans to announce a $1 billion package of aid to help rebuild another country, this time, Georgia after its rout by Russian forces last month, is yet again a demonstration that the Bush administration is clueless about the use of economic power in foreign affairs. After [...]

The rebirth of a Bipolar world?

Daniel Ihonvbere — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:25:57 +0000

In a sign that the world may be witnessing the re-emergence of a bipolar world where the United States and most Western countries are on one side and Russia and its allies are on the other, President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia on Sunday laid out what he said would become his government’s guiding principles of foreign policy after its landmark conflict with Georgia – notably including a claim to a “privileged” sphere of influence in the world.

The Georgia/Russian crisis and Realpolitik

Daniel Ihonvbere — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:59:34 +0000

The recent flareup between the Republic of Georgia and Russia has yet again brought up the issue of how far powerful nations will go to protect what they perceive as their national interest. As much as the United States can cry foul over the supposedly heavy-handed response Russia exercised over the ill-advised military incursion by Georgia into the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, it (the U.S.) paved the way for the Russian government to engage in this blatant disregard for international norm and political decorum.

Contradictions and Crisis of Failed States

Daniel Ihonvbere — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:20:05 +0000

The International Relations community has focused its attention in recent times on the growing cost of food and its impact on developing nations and the devastating effect the rising cost of food will have on the world’s poor which is currently estimated to be over one billion people. On top of this, most poor countries are perpetually weak political entities and are often ravaged by internecine wars predicated on the struggle to control vital natural resources and land.

Don’t annoy the crazy person!

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:26:34 +0000

Now that the three parties involved in the latest round of the Middle East crisis have shown us what they are made of, what is next? The recent Israeli “training manoeuvres, the U.S. exercises in the Persian Gulf, and now the Iranian testing of their longest-range missile seems to be setting the stage for what will be a very dangerous turn of events in the region if not handled delicately.

AFRICOM Revisited: What is at stake?

Daniel Ihonvbere — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:45:23 +0000

A while back, the United States of America proposed the creation of an African Military Command to be known as AFRICOM, to enable the US Department of Defence (DOD) “better focus its resources to support and enhance existing U.S. initiatives that help African nations, the African Union and the regional economic communities succeed”.