Asia
Gulf Normalisation is not “Arab Unity”
While Saudia Arabia/UAE and Qatar have been successful in bringing their more than 3 years old diplomatic stand-off to an end, and the moment has been called a “big breakthrough”, there is no gainsaying that the ground realities of the Gulf have already changed to an extent where a mere normalization wouldn’t automatically produce the so-called “Arab Unity.” Past three years have...
Iran Prepares Next Satellite Launch
The Iranian Space Agency (ISA is preparing the launch of another satellite into orbit, the Zafar 2, which is described by Tehran Times as being capable of "taking color photos and [surveying] oil reserves, mines, forests, and natural lands." This capability can be used for monitoring seasonal environmental changes as well as for creating detailed maps. Zafar 2 has been developed...
On the “Tiananmen Square Protests"
In December 2020, the Japanese press published classified diplomatic documents that were made in preparation for the 1989 G7 Summit, which took place in Paris on July 14-16. These documents show that already at that time there was a crack in the informal bloc of countries, which is still often referred to by the generalized term The West...
