The UK’s commander in Helmand, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, has said that we shouldn’t expect a decisive military victory in Afghanistan; I wholeheartedly agree. He should have added that there was never going to be a military victory in Afghanistan.
Setting up the Afghan government was never going to be enough, either. The international community needs to [...]

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia. Sochi is 34km from the border with Abkhazia, one of the breakaway provinces of Georgia. Here’s a map of the area; Sochi is in the north-west/top-left corner.

Read into it what you will; however, it seems likely that there will be problems. Czech Foreign Minister Karel [...]

Everyone has been talking about how wonderful the Beijing Olympics, particularly the opening ceremonies, were. The implication is that London won’t do as well. Jacques Rogge has been fulsome - excessively, perhaps - in the achievements of China for the games.
Given the difference in spending and the facility with which the Chinese Communist Party ignores [...]

China is on the up.
All, however, is not rosy. China faces a few problems; these are my impressions.
Tibet and Xinjiang both have groups that seek more autonomy or even independence. They are in the interior of the Asian continent and a long way from the rich cities of the coast. With disparate geography, I do [...]

A little while ago, I wrote a post here and on the Wardman Wire called ‘Help Zimbabwe from your chair’.
Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, respectively the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), were being charged with ’spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state’. Those falsehoods are, in fact, criticisms they [...]

The news that the UN Security Council has issued a statement condemning Robert Mugabe with the support of Thabo Mbeki’s South Africa is good news. After condemnation from Rwanda’s premier, Paul Kigame, and others, it seems that no-one in Africa, at least of any political substance, supports the Mugabe regime.
I think statements like this can [...]

On Monday, Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, respectively the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), will stand trial to face charges of ’spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state’. Those falsehoods are, in fact, criticisms they made on May Day of Mugabe’s government and telling the truth about the violence [...]

A friend of mine bought a copy of The Zimbabwean, a dissident newspaper. Below is a photo of the bit that gives the selling price, from the front of the paper.

In case the picture doesn’t show up, it reads UK 60p; SA R5.00; Z$100 million; €0.90. Click for a larger version. It makes the point [...]

I am no Pekinologist, but I am tempted to say, with apologies to Václav Havel, that
a spectre his haunting China - the spectre of what is known in the west as ‘dissent’
I wonder how much of the actuality in Tibet is reaching people in China-proper and how it is received by a people who (I [...]

Tiberius Gracchus writes about Chris Wickham and the use of methods of taxation to analyse the nature of a state or other polity. The argument certainly has legs and I think a comparative analysis of taxation systems could be an effective means of categorising states; however, it will not be a primary comparator.
I should say [...]