The question, which countries are better suited to develope a policy of non-alignation, could give a hint to the answer of this question. What´s obvious in this regard is the deep difference between the situation today and the one during the first Cold War, where many states were in complete dependency of one of the… Continue reading The Battlefield
Category: Politics
The New Third World
When delegates from 29 African and Asian states met in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955 to discuss international cooperation in times of the Cold War that had just begun, they chose the term Third World for themselves. This was to emphasise that these states, which, with the inclusion of many other countries, gathered in 1961 in… Continue reading The New Third World
A document of fainting power
At a donor conference of the European Union and the United Nations, Germany has pledged a total of 1.7 billion euros in aid for Syrians. This is to be handed over either directly to Syria's poor population via non-governmental organisations or to neighbouring countries hosting refugees from the civil war country. However, it seems somewhat… Continue reading A document of fainting power
The Power of the Conservatives
In addition to these weaknesses of the reform-oriented forces, the strong position of power of the more radical faction also plays a major role. The country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who is both head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, politically dates back to the time of the revolution. He has been in… Continue reading The Power of the Conservatives
Elections in Iran
On 18 June 2021, the Islamic Republic of Iran will hold presidential elections. The reform-oriented forces are likely to have a difficult time. After Hassan Rouhani, a president who himself started as a reformer, has been in office since 2013, the conservative and radical foreign policy faction now sees itself in the stronger position. There… Continue reading Elections in Iran
China and Iran
During the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Tehran, he and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif signed a document on mutual "comprehensive cooperation". This involves the establishment of a strategic partnership that is to last for an initial period of 25 years. The partnership will cover various areas, with a special focus… Continue reading China and Iran
Vietnamese Letters
As Montesquieu published his Persian Letters in 1721, he caused much excitement. A book in which two persians, Usbek and Rica, are travelling through Europe and writing to their fellows ´bout everything they saw. No mischief was left behind. Their bright observations hit a nerv in french society and Montesquieu, who later formulated the seperation… Continue reading Vietnamese Letters
The new America
The new US-president has signed a great deal of new executive orders, with whom he is able to launch new laws without nedding the congress. Adding to that, he attacked allies of Iran in Syria and exacerbated the rhetoric against Russia and China. Does this sounds familiar to you? The similarity towards the first weeks… Continue reading The new America
The USA stepping down
While the USA had to combine all its forces in the first decade of the new century to fight its wars in the "Broader Middle East", China gradually rose to become the Americans' new adversary. Obama reacted to this development and initiated the "Pivot to Asia", the strategic realignment with a focus on the Asia-Pacific… Continue reading The USA stepping down
The USA stepping up
After Britain, France and also Israel had to withdraw from the Sinai, there was no longer any doubt about the new pecking order in the Middle East. The time of the European colonial empires was over, the Cold War the new reality, with the USA and the Soviet Union as its main protagonists. That was… Continue reading The USA stepping up
Simon Dierich 