People all over the world continue to take to the streets and put their foot down to condemn various actions, even as COVID-19 is bedevilling the world with its pervasive and intense presence.
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. …
Having gone through almost two dozen coups d’états, and clearly suffered, is Thailand currently bracing for another one?
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 the country and high public dissent. …
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.
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
The past few years have seen Turkey and its authoritarian leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flex its muscles in an effort to establish itself as a regional power in countries in Eurasia and the Mediterranean.
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.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been using the pandemic to promote their free trade agenda by proposing the removal of tariffs on varied goods.
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 not illogical or irrational when seen from a humanitarian viewpoint; cheaper and easier availability of food and other medical necessities is bound to make life easier for the common man. …
Sprouted from the dark corners of the internet, the QAnon theory has now become important enough to be a part of political conversation, influencing the upcoming November elections.
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 “Chosen One” who can stop this entire scheme of things; they tend to look at him as their savior, a superhero or a divine figure. …
Everything you need to know about the upcoming American election: from statistics to candidates to polling, a complete guide.
As the free world keeps turning, this saga has escalated to be the collision of pandemic politics, racial inequality, long-term Supreme Court Justice status quo, economic recession, and climate change science. Who will be the next leader of the free world? The two candidates could not differ more in opinion, policymaking, and leadership of the aforementioned monstrous issues, and the race could not be more hotly contentious. The result might even be the closest since the 537-vote split between George Bush and Al Gore in Florida that decided the 2000 Presidential election.
The Candidates
Donald Trump
Within the current geopolitical order, international competition means climate change is an urgent universal problem that is not being met with a universal solution.
Energy politics are the activities undertaken by state’s governments in regard to the supply or protection of their energy resources.
The Necessity for Change
It is becoming increasingly clear that if we do not act, and act soon, the ecological damage humanity is inflicting upon the earth will reach a point of no return.
Nineteen of the twenty hottest years on record have occurred since 2001 (1) and the world is 1.2⁰C hotter than it was a century ago. One degree doesn’t sound like a lot — you likely wouldn’t notice a change of one degree on your average day. But climate change deals with the bigger picture and long term trends. It deals with the melting of global ice and subsequent rises in sea levels, it deals with the growing amounts of tropical storms and hurricanes due to sea temperature changes, it deals with the world’s hottest regions becoming near inhospitable and it deals with the effects a hotter, drier world will have on agriculture and infrastructure. In the past, a one-to-two-degree drop was all it took to plunge the Earth into the Little Ice Age. …
How this niche motorsport could transform the world we live in, and how others are failing to do so.
Motorsport is a niche interest. It’s somewhat of a technical sport with as much science as a skill. While technicalities dictate some of the most tremendous arguments, any motorsport fan will tell you that the crowning achievement is becoming Formula 1 World Champion; but that doesn’t always have to be the case. There is a possibility that the future lies elsewhere. And nobody is making a stronger case for it than Formula E.
Let’s set the scene: It’s September 2014, in Beijing. You hear there is a racing event going on in the city centre. …
The world is currently witnessing a shift of importance to cyber power, and its consequences will probably linger over us for the coming decades.
It seems like the world might have just found its new battlefield: the internet. And no, we’re not referring to internet trolling. For quite some time now, technology and cyber power have been the interest of many countries; but now, owing to COVID-19 and the consequential prohibition of physical meetings, digital seems to be the way to go, thereby garnering more attention and prominently, more importance.
Cyber Power
Joseph Nye, a prominent American political scientist defines cyber power as “the ability to use cyberspace to create advantages and influence events in other operational environments and across the instruments of power.” …
