Asia & Pacific
Asia & Pacific
Australia, India, Japan, and U.S. address Indo-Pacific challenges
In the midst of conflicts, geopolitical tensions, and increased pressure on global supply chains, the Foreign Minister of Australia, the External Affairs Minister of...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
IMEC’s Corridor of Letters
In February 2026, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones presented investors with a map titled “APSEZ rejuvenates India’s historic trade routes.” The phrase is...
China
China hosts Trump: High scores on ceremony but modest deliverables
No one should be surprised that U.S. President Donald Trump’s China visit on May 13-15 had a heavy focus on ceremony and symbolic messaging,...
Sanctions and related policies
U.S. powers up Iran sanctions programs
The U.S. Treasury Department, under its new program called “Economic Fury,” announced in rapid succession five sets of fresh Iran sanctions beginning on April...
Global Economy
IMF warns of global downturn risk from continuing Iran conflict
It should surprise no one that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank Spring meetings in Washington D.C. on April 13–18 were overshadowed...
Global Energy Supplies
Hormuz shutdown deepens energy crisis in Asia
The Iran War and the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting global oil and gas supplies, creating a major energy shock...
Freedom of Navigation
Intensive diplomacy focused on reopening Strait of Hormuz
Over the past week (March 30 - April 6) intensive diplomacy centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in retaliation for...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Turkmenistan is finally in the right place at the right time
Turkmenistan has for decades talked about making much greater use of its vast gas reserves to both expand export volumes and to diversify its...
Minerals, Mining and Rare Earths
U.S. moves to counter Chinese dominance in critical minerals
The United States hosted the first-ever Critical Minerals Ministerial at the State Department in Washington on February 4, bringing together ministers and senior officials...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Why the EU–India trade deal marks a strategic turning point
The Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore once said that you cannot cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. The importance...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Australia’s under-16 social media ban: A new blueprint for global digital regulation?
Australia steps first -- now the question is which governments will follow and how far they will emulate Australia’s experiment. For the first time,...
Sanctions and related policies
DPRK cybercrime and illicit IT workers targeted by new U.S. sanctions
North Korean (DPRK) state-linked cyber actors have stolen and laundered billions of dollars (primarily cryptocurrency) using a global ecosystem of hackers, shell companies, front...
Sanctions and related policies
After the “snapback,” large new set of U.S. Iran sanctions announced
Less than two weeks after the reimposition of United Nations “snapback” sanctions on Iran on September 27, the U.S. Government announced a substantial new...
Espionage
MI6 launches new dark web portal as UK targets agents in Russia, Iran, China
The Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom, commonly known as MI6, launched on September 19 a new dark web portal to recruit operatives...
Interviews
AI can push a “democratization“ in film production
During this year’s Venice Film Festival, NE Global sat down with Chen Zhuo, CEO and Founder of Singapore-based company FizzDragon.
The pioneering Artificial Intelligence Generated...
China
Symbolic optics from China or movement toward a new global order?
With the UN General Assembly in New York less than a month away, China’s leadership was able to grab global attention for many days...
Invasion of Ukraine
Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative stalls out
U.S. President Donald Trump’s summer of disrupting almost everything is now winding down with major peace agreements still eluding him, along with a potential...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Central Asia: An Aladdin’s Cave of Critical Minerals
For most of the three decades since independence, the Central Asian “stans” and the countries in the Caucasus attracted little attention from western governments....
United Nations
At Hiroshima bombing anniversary, UN head says the risk of nuclear conflict is growing
As the risk of nuclear conflict grows and geopolitical divisions widen, the world has a shared duty to protect future generations from the horrors...
Sanctions and related policies
U.S. sanctions malicious North Korean and Russian cyber actors
The U.S. has been working to crack down on what it warns is a wide-scale, concerted effort by North Korea to dupe American firms...
Trade
Terrific or Terrible Tariffs with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
There is a very good chance that most of you will have seen the Walt Disney’s animation film Fantasia, which came out in 1940,...
Defense & Security
United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius resolve the Chagos Islands issue
The United Kingdom agreed on May 22 to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after a last-minute legal challenge was thrown out...
Global Energy Supplies
U.S.-China tariff struggle, Iran issue affect energy demand, oil prices
International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on April 23 oil prices may decline further this year due to slow demand growth...
Economy & Business
Doom, gloom or boom?
While it is an almost painful daily task to ascertain where the Trump administration is positioned on the question of tariff policy, and traders...
Sanctions and related policies
Ahead of nuclear talks, Trump administration orders new sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet and Chinese refiners
Washington’s sanctions campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran” is intensifying, despite the start of initial discussions between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues...
Defense & Security
G7 condemns China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan
In a statement issued on April 6, 2025, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
Democracy & Human Rights
U.S. sanctions officials for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy
The United States has imposed new sanctions on six Hong Kong and Chinese officials to punish China for the ongoing crackdown on democracy advocates...
Sanctions and related policies
Ignoring Russia, latest Trump administration Iran sanctions increase pressure on an old enemy
On March 13, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned (“designated” in OFAC language) Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tashkent’s busy diplomatic agenda
In the coming months, Uzbekistan will host high-profile summits between Central Asia with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As global geopolitics...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tajikistan: The Battle for Middle Earth’s Resources
Tajikistan is a small land-locked country tucked away in southeast Central Asia. Its capital, Dushanbe, is almost equally distant, at approximately 4,500 kilometers, from...
Sanctions and related policies
Trump administration unleashes first sanctions on Iranian shadow fleet
On February 6, the Department of the Treasury unleashed the first wave of the new Trump administration’s economic sanctions using the tried-and-true U.S. Government/Treasury...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tariff Trouble in Trump Town
President Trump has had many a cartoon about him as a child throwing toys and anything to hand out of the playpen. Now, of...
Economy & Business
Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy
True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global markets with a three-day surge of tariff announcements, border security negotiations and ultimately a 30-day...
Russia Sanctions
Stringent new energy sector sanctions on Russia announced
On January 10, the U.S. Government released a massive new listing of over 200 entities and individuals involved in Russia’s energy sector for Ukraine-related...
Interviews
Interview: The spirit of democracy is still alive in the minds of the Korean people
During the Stratcom Summit '24 in Istanbul (mid-December), South Korean Professor Giwoong Jung, based at Seoul's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, discussed his perspectives...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Stock Market or Not Market
So, what is a market? Obviously, it is somewhere where you can buy and sell “stuff.” In a successful economy having a market to...
Defense & Security
United States-Japan-Philippines inaugural maritime dialogue focuses on Chinese provocations
The United States, Philippines, and Japan raised “serious concerns” over China’s repeated blocking and continuing harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea...
Democracy & Human Rights
Biden administration takes final steps to counter global corruption and human rights abuses
Announcing a global grab-bag of new sanctions, possibly some of its last, the Biden administration took major steps on December 9 by authorizing new...
Defense & Security
Allies condemn the DPRK’s deployment of troops to Russia
The G7 countries, the EU as well as Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand on November 6 expressed "grave concern" over the deployment of...
China
Drone producers in China and Russia face new U.S. sanctions
In recent months, the Biden administration’s sanctions taskmasters at the State and Treasury Departments have clearly gone into overdrive, designating new targets/entities at least...
Interviews
Interview: Afghanistan military mission veteran lays out Hungarian EU Presidency goals
In 2008-2009, one of Hungary's most successful military missions took place in Bhaglan Province, Afghanistan. That mission was led by Zsolt Sándor, Hungary's current...
Freedom of Navigation
China’s “dangerous and escalatory” activities against the Philippines in the South China Sea sparks condemnation from Washington
On August 31, the U.S. Department of State issued a strongly worded statement condemning the latest in a series of dangerous and escalatory actions...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
EU must strengthen financial protections for Hong Kong activists
Imagine leaving your homeland to escape tyranny, only to find the oppressive regime you fled can still reach you, manipulating your financial lifelines. This...
Defense & Security
NATO Summit: “Trump-proofing” Ukraine support while Biden appearances under a microscope
The July 9-11 NATO Summit was originally envisioned as a celebration of the alliance’s 75th anniversary at the organization’s founding venue in Washington D.C.,...
Energy
Russia failing to replace lucrative European gas deliveries with sales to China
Russia’s attempts to build the Power of Siberia 2 (PS-2) natural gas pipeline to China appear to be stalling despite repeated statements from Moscow...
International Organizations
Astana SCO Summit reaffirms its growing geopolitical role
The 24th summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), chaired by Kazakhstan, took place on July 4...
Asia & Pacific
Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the U.S. condemn DPRK-Russia Cooperation
During his June 19-20 visit to Pyongyang, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty...
The Philippines
Manila rejects Beijing’s South China Sea demands as “absurd”
The Philippine Coast Guard accused its Chinese counterpart on June 7 of blocking efforts to evacuate a sick member of its armed forces in...
China
Xi challenges a divided Europe
After the May 5-9 visit of President Xi Jinping to Europe most of the political analysts in Brussels who argued that the Chinese President's...
Development Assistance
Outline for Luzon Economic Corridor takes shape
While most headlines from the Indo-Pacific Business Forum held on May 21 in Taguig, just outside Manila, focused on the latest official data concerning...
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