Geo Politics

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China that had been scheduled to begin on Friday (Feb. 3), following the tracking of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon flying across the United States in what Washington termed a “clear infringement” of US sovereignty. Officials said that military officers debated firing down the high-altitude surveillance balloon on Wednesday, but …

Next week, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets his Chinese counterpart in Beijing, there will be numerous points of contention, including Taiwan, chips, and trade. How can the world’s two largest economies avoid a resurgence of the Cold War? In August of last year, when then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China conducted unprecedented military …

Nearly nine years after both nations signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, the Philippines and the United States have agreed on four new local bases in the Philippines where American forces will be permitted to construct facilities and deploy defense hardware (EDCA). The statement was made on Thursday, February 2, as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited the Philippines for …

Hours after intercepting a rocket fired from Gaza and in response to U.S. calls for a cessation of the rising violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military claimed to have attacked Gaza in the early hours of Thursday, February 2. No initial reports of significant casualties were received. In reaction to Wednesday’s missile launch, the military …

Long-term planning is tough for industry managers due to market volatility and political turmoil, indicating a rough year ahead for many companies. These thoughts were provided by a group of senior contacts who participated in our leadership snapshot poll. More than sixty executives, including CEOs, pro-vice chancellors, directors, provosts, and edtech entrepreneurs from sixteen countries, shared their perspectives on current …

Wednesday, President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan convened a conference with the leaders of many sister nations. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed met with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Jordan’s King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The objective …

Two ballistic missiles and a number of drones were used in a terrorist strike that was launched from Yemen one year ago to target civilian targets in the United Arab Emirates. Three innocent civilians perished in this barbaric attack while the UAE’s air defence systems, a pillar of our decades-long security alliance, blasted the missiles out of the sky. Today, …

President His Majesty Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea, visited the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi, UAE, today to celebrate the completion of Unit 3 and see the plant’s continuous development. The visit is in line with efforts to expand the current Special Strategic Partnership between …

The South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, left for the United Arab Emirates on Saturday as part of a two-nation tour aimed at promoting South Korean exports, particularly those related to the energy and defense industries. Yoon is scheduled to arrive in Abu Dhabi on a state visit, the first such visit by a South Korean leader since the two …

F.M. Borhan Uddin, the Bangladeshi ambassador to the Philippines, has announced plans to develop ties with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in a variety of sectors, such as education and governance. On Thursday, January 12, he made the news during a visit to the region organized by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC-Philippines). Uddin met with BARMM …