After his election as the new President of South Korea in May, Yoon Suk-yeol hastily implemented one of his key promises: to relocate South Korea’s presidential office from Chung Wa Dae (Blue House) to a Defense Ministry Complex in Yongsan, an underdeveloped neighborhood in Seoul best known for its stationing of the United States military forces.
Posts published in “Political Analysis”
Imran Khan’s constitutional coup and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly has polarized Pakistan; a flurry of allegations has magnified the power of the military in the country's domestic politics. Pakistan’s current constitutional crisis was sparked by a vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan in April 2022, but has escalated further now that Khan has been disqualified from the next set of elections in August 2023. In the wake of the vote of no confidence, Khan rallied unprecedented support against the military establishment while he simultaneously claimed an American conspiracy removed him from office, which may have been fabricated.
Recently, there has been much debate surrounding whether China can prevent a recession for the upcoming year. In reality, not only is China incapable of preventing a recession—it appears that China’s recession is already underway, and there are several leading indicators suggesting that the worst is yet to come. Despite talks of GDP growth and state sponsored infrastructure projects to boost its economy, China is currently exhibiting telltale signs of an ongoing recession.
On Tuesday, November 15, Poland reported two missile strikes against the town of Przewodów, located 6 kilometers away from the Ukrainian border. The strike resulted in two civilian casualties. While Russia was initially suspected, it has since been confirmed that the missiles were fired by Ukrainian air defenses against an incoming Russian missile. Regardless of the missile’s origin, we have never been closer to the risk of a global war since the start of the Ukrainian conflict.
The show of force and shift in new leadership firmly established Xi’s undisputed control over party and country, making the entire week-long affair seem less about confirming political appointments, and more of a coronation ceremony for Xi.
Much of the Middle East is facing a crisis of indecision on Iran. Despite extensive reporting on Iran’s expansionist ambitions, the Islamic Republic has been making bold demands with the expectation of both Western and Arab acquiescence.
As Italy’s recent election of a far-right leader revives memories of a not-so-distant authoritarian age, European leaders last month invoked history of another kind in Athens at the 10th annual Democracy Forum.
Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has animated the use of economic sanctions in an unprecedented way. Strenuous US-China relations, exacerbated by Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan, raise the question of whether Washington would impose similar measures on Beijing in the face of a military invasion of Taiwan.
On August 4, 2022, the day following the official state visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) responded by conducting the largest military exercises ever staged by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait.
After weeks of fighting in Ukraine, reports surfaced in the beginning of April that Finland and Sweden were making serious moves to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).