Category Policy & Politics

Mutual Delegitimization: American and Chinese Development Assistance in Africa

How can China’s ideas of development assistance to Africa be regarded within the context of a wider struggle among global powers? In contrast to the dominant public understanding that Chinese aid has “no strings attached,” authors Salvador Regilme and Henrik Hartmann from the University of Leiden show that US and Chinese governments’ aid strategies champion their own geostrategic national interests in the African continent.

China’s Belt and Road Gamble: Can it Deliver?

At a time when China is increasing its power on the world stage, Dr. Shahid Yusuf, the Chief Economist of The Growth Dialogue at the George Washington University School of Business in Washington DC, attempts to investigate the effects of China's Belt Initiative. In doing so, he discovered that the project will certainly increase China's influence and economic power in Central Asia but it will also place the Chinese economy under heavy strain as Chinese growth begins to slow.

Ending the Korean War

In this article, Dr. Michael F. Duggan traces the roots of the present conflict on the Korean Peninsula to its origins during the Korean War. After a discussion on the causes and the course of the war, he then discusses the implications of a North Korea with nuclear weapons as well. He then discusses the reasons why North Korea would seek to develop a nuclear bomb in the first place. Dr. Duggan then closes by proposing ways that the US and China could work together to avert a potential nuclear war on the peninsula.

ISIS Is Not al-Qaeda: We Need a Different Strategy

Author Nicole A. Softness argues that ISIS is primarily, and potentially exclusively, prioritizing its territorial claims. She argues that this warrants a new strategy from the US-led counterterrorism alliance: one that treats ISIS like a violent revolutionary movement (more akin to the French and Communist Revolutions), and as a potentially legitimate state, rather than a scattered and decentralized ideological network.

Venezuela: The Origins and Enduring Legacy of Chavismo – Part II

In this two-part series, author Vincent A. Dueñas explores the possibilities for the continued viability of the Chavista party after the end of Nicolas Maduro’s presidency. He asserts that rise of an opposition majority in the Venezuelan legislature in December 2015 resulted in the most concrete protest of President Maduro’s presidency and possibly a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s socialist state legacy.

Venezuela: The Origins and Enduring Legacy of Chavismo – Part I

In this two-part series, author Vincent A. Dueñas explores the possibilities for the continued viability of the Chavista party after the end of Nicolas Maduro’s presidency. He asserts that rise of an opposition majority in the Venezuelan legislature in December 2015 resulted in the most concrete protest of President Maduro’s presidency and possibly a rejection of Hugo Chavez’s socialist state legacy.

A Road to Peace in West Asia

Author Mishaal Al Gergawi illustrates a broad overview of the political challenges facing the Middle East, asserting that the domestic drivers of such challenges are accentuated by sectarianism. He argues that a resolution to Saudi-Iranian geopolitical competition would greatly mitigate conflicts throughout the region, and describes the contours of a potential settlement between these powers.