In 1991, when the Soviet Union disintegrated into many, smaller countries, Ukraine was one such country that had its independence handed back to them. What makes Ukraine different from the rest, though, is its geography: awkwardly sandwiched between Russia and Europe, it is quite literally stuck between two starkly opposing schools of thought: dictatorship and democracy, realism and liberalism, right and left. Ukraine had to make a choice, one that would form the roots of the entire political ideology of the state, whether it wanted to be associated with Russia or the European Union.

And it did make a choice…

As the world’s most popular sport, it is perhaps of little surprise that football has become embroiled in international politics. However, as the money in football has grown exponentially over the last decade or so, so has political involvement. This article will explore just some of the areas that have seen increased levels of involvement and endeavors to answer the question: just why have international governments have been so keen to engage more in a world that at first, seems so disconnected from anything to do with politics?

Investing in Clubs Abroad

In 2016, Chinese companies purchased three popular football teams from the UK…

Camaraderie at its Finest?

When you form a mental picture of what a protest looks like, it is probably a large group with a common modus operandi, chanting slogans and the sphere of activity bursting at the seams. But what we don’t usually realise is the aftermath of the demonstration — they are more than an act of dissent and go beyond what is apparent. When things get messy, violence sweeps in with full force, often defying the whole purpose of why the protest was organised in the first place. …

A coup d’état, or “the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group,” literally translates to “a blow against the state.” However, it is actually much more than just a blow; it is a dagger through the heart of the regime, which leaves the country bleeding for a very long time. A coup d’état is essentially when the military or any opposition party overthrows the existing government and proclaims themselves as the new one. And predictably, no, it is not legitimate. Coups tend to take place during times of inefficient governance, which led to dire situations in…

Ant Group’s massive IPO had been recently suspended following a meeting between the company’s billionaire co-founder Jack Ma and regulators in China. The reasons for the same as stated by the Shanghai Stock Exchange were “major issues” that might cause it “not to meet the listing conditions or disclosure requirements.” Ant Group apologised in its official WeChat account to its investors for “any inconvenience caused by this development.” This listing would be the biggest share sale in history at a whopping $37b, beating the $29.4b record currently held by the Saudi state oil company Aramco.

The Journey Began with Alipay

Soft Power: The ability to attract and co-opt, shaping the preferences of other political bodies through appeal, attraction and influence.

Hard Power: The use of military and economic means to coerce the behaviour or interests of other political bodies.

Syria

For centuries, Turkey and the Ottoman Empire that preceded it, have repressed minorities within its borders: from the Armenian genocide of 1914–1923 to the modern repression of the Kurdish people, approximately 18 million of whom reside in Turkey (1). It was this fear of minorities that led Turkey to invade and occupy Northern Syria in 2019.

As the world suffers from the exponential spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is busy pushing forwards its expansionist free trade agenda as always. “Removing the impediments to trade in essential products to ensure their free-flow” was one of the five proposals made to the WTO’s Council for Trade in goods, as a measure to combat the pandemic. There have been several similar COVID-19 related proposals by over 25 countries, all of which seek to ensure supply chain connectivity; predictable trade in agricultural products and food; and declaration of trade in essential goods. Such proposals are…

By nature, conspiracy theories are meant to be scandalous, attention-grabbing, out-of-the-ordinary pieces of information that appeal to our need to understand, to control the things happening around us. QAnon is no less. QAnon — short for QAnonymous — is a right-wing, pro-Trump conspiracy theory that proclaims Trump’s position as President is a strategic decision made by the military to topple over the “deep-state.” The deep state is thought to be a group of high-level government or military members, including high-profile Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, who are Satan-worshippers, pedophiles and sex-trafficking operators. The supporters believe that Mr. Trump is the only…