One year ago, after ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol radically changed his focus and outlined a policy shift embracing Japanese partnership during a speech commemorating the 104th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule, this author began waiting to see how this important anniversary would play out this year. His premonitions did not fail him!

From 15 to 17 April, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led a delegation of three ministers and business representatives on a working visit to China. Since taking office as head of the German government in December 2021, this is his second visit to the leading power of the Asian continent, where the focus of all global processes is constantly shifting. This is a continuation of the tradition of regular contacts with the Chinese leadership established under his predecessor, Angela Merkel. Incidentally, of all Western politicians, she has always received the most praise in China…

Turkey demonstrating an active foreign policy aimed at raising its status from a regional state to a major power and leader of the Turkic world. Its diplomacy synthesizes several complementary doctrines: “neo-Ottomanism,” “neopanturanism,” “Turkish Eurasianism,” and “Turkish axis.” Ankara realizes that NATO membership guarantees its strategic safety against external threats from key anti-Western countries. At the same time, the Turkish political elite realizes that the West is particularly reluctant to see Turkey as a member of the European Union and will stretch the time of European integration. Ankara prefers, forcedly or by choice…

Last year saw a number of significant developments in China-Kazakhstan relations, including two official visits to China by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, multi-billion dollar contracts, the promotion of transport and infrastructure initiatives, and an unprecedented 30 per cent growth in bilateral trade. Kazakhstan accounts for half of China’s trade and investment in the region, with trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China reaching an impressive $31 billion. By 2023, the volume of cargo between the two countries will have increased by 22 per cent to nearly 30 million tonnes…

On March 28, 2024, Russia vetoed the extension of the mandate of the UN panel of experts to monitor the sanctions against the DPRK until April 30, 2025. This is important, because according to the established procedure, the decision to extend the term of office of the so-called 1718 Sanctions Committee must be made by April 30, otherwise it will be unable to continue with its activities…

In early April, Kuwait held its first elections since Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al Sabah took power late last year, determined to implement economic reforms after a protracted standoff between government appointees and elected parliamentarians. The new emir sharply criticized the National Assembly (parliament) and the government in his first speech to parliament since taking office in December, saying that their actions are “detrimental to the interests of the country and its people.” His reformist approach, while lacking tolerance for political wrangling, seems aimed at pushing the small Gulf Arab state…

Throughout the 21st century, the United States has invaded and occupied multiple nations, including Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003, and Syria in 2014. It has also led to military interventions rendering once prosperous nations into failed states, including Libya from 2011 onward…

In the complex game being played by the major world powers in connection with the Taiwan issue, a remarkable event took place at the beginning of April this year, which attracted the attention of media around the world. This is about a tour of the PRC (or “Mainland China”) by former President Ma Ying-jeou accompanied by a certain Taiwanese youth group. Between May 2008 and May 2016 (i.e., two consecutive four-year terms), Ma Ying-jeou…

One way or another, there comes a moment in the history of every nation that experiences the rise of self-consciousness and political “self-fulfilment” when it is necessary to unite all its historical heritage into a single concept, to minimise all historical contradictions and to establish the most direct line of succession. Many states, due to the complexity and intertwined historical destinies of the peoples that inhabit them, are not able to do this easily. The same can be said of Kazakhstan…

Something is in the works in Georgia, besides a unanimous vote on a law that the West does not want. On April 17, the ruling Georgian Dream party passed the “Foreign Agents Law” in its first reading, with 83 votes in favor and none against. The fanfare over the bill is just the beginning of what is to come next, and this is more revealing than the vote itself and the wording of the bill…

Parliamentary elections in South Korea have taken place, and their outcome partly matched this author’s predictions. Therefore, in this final block of articles on this topic, we will first recall how we thought the outcome would be, and then we will describe how the population actually voted, comparing the results of the 2024 election and the results of the 2020 election. We will touch on irregularities separately to remove interference factors…

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States believed that a unipolar world would last forever: year after year, day after day, it became increasingly blatant in its disregard for the interests of others and the opinions of the rest of the world. Then the concept of an international “rules-based order” was born: a group of American scholars, former and future officials, presented a paper at Princeton in 2006 entitled “A World of Freedom Under Law”…