Since the onset of the 21^st Century, tensions around the world have been simmering. Great power rivalry has reached to a new apex since the culmination of the Cold War. The rivalry between China and the United States is considered one of the most significant and appalling issues of the era. Given the importance of maritime trade, the South China Sea and the Southeast Asian countries have emerged as the strategic focus of the rivalry between the two sides…

News of the European Union’s most recent sanctions on companies and people from Russia, India, Iran, China and Syria should be cause for alarm here in Europe. Somehow, however, the people of the EU seem resigned to their fate in every regard. One can only consider the point at which Russophobia will become mandatory in countries aligned with Britain, Germany, France, and especially the United States. I only wish this level of lunacy was unprecedented. Perhaps then, we would be in less danger of history repeating itself. I, for one, am not optimistic…

The state visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Vietnam took place on 29-30 January this year. This event in itself and the various circumstances surrounding it deserve at least a brief and very general commentary. Mainly because it is a remarkable act in the relations between two important countries of the South-East Asia sub-region, where the current stage of the “Big World Game” with the participation of the leading world powers, i.e. China and the USA, is developing with particular acuteness. The presence of new emerging significant players is becoming more and more…

On January 16th, President Biden of the United States invited leaders of the US Congress to meet with him to discuss military assistance to Ukraine and Taiwan. On July 29^th, 2023, the USA announced that it was providing a military aid package to Taiwan of 345 million dollars to be used to allocate already existing US stockpiles of weapons and ammunition including missile, manpad air defence systems, intelligence and surveillance equipment to “maintain Taiwan’s self-defence against China”…

On December 12-13, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Vietnam. This has been his third such visit since he’s been holding China’s highest party and state positions (since around 2012-2013), and the first in six years. That is, the head of the second world power does not visit its southern neighbor too often (to put it politely), even though the two countries sharing a 1,000-km border. And despite the fact that the Vietnamese leadership (mainly members of the Communist party) make regular visits to Beijing. The difference in the frequency of mutual “courtesies” is due…

Mongolia signed a number of international air transport agreements in October 2023. So, on October 17 of this year, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Mongolia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and an air service agreement with Vietnam, both of which stated that the parties were willing to give up their airspace to allow free passage for their aircraft. A similar agreement was signed the day before with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s aviation authorities. A week earlier, namely on October 10, 2023…

Historically, the United States has launched several wars under numerous pretenses, ranging from anti-terrorism to human rights and democracy. The United States’ victory in the Cold War made it the sole policeman of the world. This power helped the US to impose wars on different countries. These wars inflicted chaos and turmoil in the host countries. The United States possesses a history of interfering in the internal affairs of a score of countries around the world, especially the poor nations…

On July 5, the ASEAN Working Group on Chemicals and Waste held a meeting in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In addition to the ASEAN member states, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region also participated in the meeting. The agenda included the issue of the proper treatment and disposal of hazardous chemicals and their by-products in compliance with the provisions of the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions, which have been ratified…

For fear of a negative US reaction, Hanoi stayed out from SPIEF 2023, one of the world’s largest business forums. The 26th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum concluded on June 17 in Russia, with the goal of building commercial partnerships and expanding contacts with trading partners. Participants in SPIEF 2023 have begun to develop a new trust zone and a bloc of sovereignty-seeking countries eager to build bridges of understanding…

As US-Chinese tensions grow and as it becomes increasingly clear the US is unable to compete with China head-to-head in terms of development, trade, and investment, especially in regions along China’s periphery, the US is resorting increasingly to asymmetrical measures including political coercion, subversion, and even violence. US military aggression and political subversion, particularly in Southeast Asia, spans many decades. Besides the Vietnam War and the related conflicts which raged across Laos, Cambodia, and even Thailand in the 20th century, more recently…

As from the beginning of 2023, an increasing number of Western companies are looking to invest in Vietnam and India. Leading economists around the world believe that these countries have favorable grounds for foreign investment. In turn, during the past few years, China has seen a decline in the amount of investment…

The US government, Western media, and supposed “human rights” organizations are condemning Cambodia for recently sentencing Kem Sokha, the former leader of the opposition party “Cambodia National Rescue Party” (CNRP), to 27 years in prison. While the arguments being made publicly revolve superficially around upholding “human rights” and “democracy,”…