On July 17, 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol returned home after completing an eight-day overseas trip that took him to Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea attended the NATO summit in Vilnius, where he “stressed Seoul’s commitment to deepening cooperation with the military alliance through a new special partnership program and the ROK’s participation in the military information sharing system with NATO member states.” Yoon Suk-yeol next traveled to Warsaw…

In this latest in his series of digests on the increasingly tense situation on the Korean peninsula the author presents an overview of the situation up to mid-June 2023. On April 15, in response to Pyongyang’s test of its new solid-fuel ICBM, the Hwaseong-18, the US and South Korea conducted joint air force exercises involving B-52H strategic bombers supported by South Korean F-35A and F-15K and US F-16 fighter jets. On April 16 a North Korean patrol boat crossed…

The “third neighbor” for Mongolia is a set of the large states that do not have a direct geographical boundary with Mongolia and are distinguished by a high level of socio-economic development and a democratic political system. The very concept of the “third neighbor” dates back to the events of the early 1990s, when US Secretary of State James Baker, during his visit to Mongolia (1990), called his country “Mongolia’s Third Big Neighbor.” The idea of balancing between Mongolia’s two enormous direct neighbors (Russia and China) by building intense and deep partnerships with…

From May 19 to 21, President Yoon Suk-yeol attended the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. Yoon Suk-yeol is the fourth South Korean leader to attend the G7 leaders’ meeting; this time, he was invited to the summit along with the leaders of Australia, Brazil, the Comoros, the Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Upon his return home, Yoon Suk-yeol met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on May 21 and with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen…

Despite the creation of numerous US programs and plans ostensibly aimed at solving problems and crises, Iraq is still seen as a place where such problems are deeply rooted through the fault of the West. Even though there have been several “celebrations” in American and European research institutes and centers, customary for a situation of setting up the electoral process or installing a new administration, no progress has been achieved. One of the paradoxes of the situation in Iraq is that even the major Western institutions that have been persistently imposed on the country over the past two decades…

On March 20, 2003, the United States, the UK and a subservient “coalition of the willing” made a thuggish invasion of Iraq with the stated goals of establishing democracy, developing the nation, and toppling the oppressive dictatorship. Many duped Iraqis embraced the chance to see the old administration overthrown in favor of a new government…

Now, it is abundantly clear that the United States’ dishonest and aggressive Middle East strategy, which is at odds with the aspirations of the Arab world, has utterly failed. The establishment of a multipolar world by Russia, China, and Iran was a significant milestone in this process. The convergence of these three nations and the global support for this new diplomatic triangle…

For the past two years, the Republic of Ireland has been a member of the UN Security Council. That’s right, Ireland – when millions of people still expect the word “Irish” to be followed by “terrorist” or “freedom fighter,” depending on their point of view, or someone else’s perception of their way of seeing things. Now its service is coming to an end...

Despite the measures taken by the international community to reinforce global security and protect civilians from the relentless increase in the number of armed conflicts, unjustified civilian casualties are not decreasing, and not only in the tinder box that is the Middle East, but also in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and even in Europe...

In this day and age there’s no shortage of new challenges that governments of the world have to face and tackle, including atmospheric pollution, climate change and the rapid human-caused environmental degradation. Under these circumstances, what didn’t seem to be much of an issue yesterday, becomes a big issue today…

At least 14 people were killed during the murderous strike by the Israeli air force on the Syrian T-4 airfield at Homs. On April 9, Israeli F-15 fighter jets flew over Lebanese airspace, as they have done on many previous occasions, in total disregard of international law…

The current events in Somalia cause even greater concern. Against the background of the severe economic situation and the military confrontation of the many groups, having divided the country into the spheres of influence throughout the...