The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) originated in provincial-level efforts that sought to simultaneously integrate interior and frontier provinces to the rest of China as well as neighboring countries during the 1990s.
This is a guest post by Ardeshir Pezeshk, a PhD Candidate at University of Massachusetts specializing in civil wars, conflict-affected civilians and international law. Follow him on Twitter here. ...
In some sense, it is with a heavy heart that I write my last permanent contributor blog post at the Duck. I’ve loved being with the Ducks these past years, and I’ve appreciated being able to write...
The next US presidential elections are around the corner and the Democrat US President has already announced that he will not run for the Presidency again. He defines himself as pro-choice, and it...
Much has been made of the activation of the nascent US-based missile defense system seemingly in response to North Korea's imminent test of what we believe (but do not know) to be a long-range ballistic missile. The DPRK is obviously looking for attention given that the focus of the West has...
Mark Safranski kindly forwarded me a link to a really interesting blog, Cynical Nerd's The Indian National Interest. The most recent post (as of today) is entitled "India, Russia and Geopolitics." The conclusions:While India might move closer to the United States due to a convergence of threat...
Well, that just about speaks for itself, doesn't it? I don't think he actually wants us to treat "unlawful enemy combatants" the same way we treated Nazi POWs and war criminals, because that would mean applying the Geneva Convention and even extending representation to those charged with crimes.If...
[Updated] If I have to hear someone else, whether it is an administration official like Tony Snow (scroll down) or a member of the wingnutty club (pick one, any one), tell me that Iraq is 'getting better' and 'we are making progress' my head might explode, alla Scanners (not for the feint of...
A significant majority of Catalans voted for greater autonomy today. The Financial Times reports on the diffusion of devolutionary rhetoric in Spain:Spanish regions began clamouring for sweeping new powers on Monday after Catalonia approved a new self-government charter in a referendum on...
[updated]Japan scores a victory at the IWC: Japan and other whaling nations on Sunday for the first time in two decades won support for a motion criticizing a global whaling ban.The approval of a non-binding pro-whaling declaration by the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, does not...
The latest NRO fund-raising gimmick: Since this Trek-ban backlash seems to be motivating many Corner readers to give, I’m upping the ante. If the Trek-o-Meter hits $20,000 by the end of the weekend, NRO will launch a line of Trek-inspired merchandise.Jonah Goldberg on intellectual property:As I am...
By now we are all familiar with the current status of the civil war in Somalia. Last week, Islamic militias in Somalia seized the capital of Mogadishu, defeating the US-backed coalition of warlords. The Christian Science Monitor had an interesting article discussing the next step for the US in its...
During my guest stint at Lawyers, Guns and Money I got involved in a spat with Unfogged's LizardBreath over Linda Hirshman's argument that highly-educated professional women who choose to become stay-at-home moms are the contemporary Quislings of the feminist movement.Despite our disagreement, I...
Some interesting Sunday morning reading:The Washington Post today reprints a rather lengthy cable from the US Embassy in Iraq to Main State. Its worth a read.The Post introduces the Cable: Hours before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat...
Not long after I started the Duck of Minerva I began a series called "Wednesday's Maxim". Like a number of my series, I let it fall by the wayside. Witness the revival of "Wednesday's maxim," but on Friday!Considering its origin carefully, all political power is rooted in violence. There is no...
A couple of weeks ago the Cunning Realist wrote:This has probably been discussed at great length elsewhere, and undoubtedly will strike some as a dumb question. But before tonight was anyone besides me unaware that U.S. citizenship is not a requirement for military service?Which reminded me of a...