Francis Pike

Is Imran Khan Pakistan’s Donald Trump?

23 August 2022 6:05 pm

Imran Khan, the cricketing hero, legendary lothario and deposed prime minister of Pakistan, is in trouble again. His political opponents…

Nancy Pelosi went rogue in Taiwan

3 August 2022 9:10 pm

Old leaders can be among the best. Just look at Konrad Adenauer, who became German chancellor when he was 73…

The European Union can’t fix its gas problem

21 July 2022 6:30 pm

Over a 20 year period, former German chancellors Gerhard Schroder and Angela Merkel, handed Russian President Vladimir Putin a vice-like…

Shinzo Abe and the long history of Japanese political violence

9 July 2022 11:45 pm

Shinzo Abe, perhaps the most significant Japanese politician of the last 50 years, has been assassinated. The killing was carried…

How long will Xi Jinping rule China?

12 June 2022 7:52 pm

For some time now it has been assumed that in November the National Congress will rubber stamp Xi Jinping’s continued…

Why does India get a free pass for supporting Russia?

22 April 2022 5:47 pm

When Russia invaded Ukraine the Indian government rapidly launched ‘Operation Ganga’. This was not a military operation, nor did it…

China’s pact with the Solomons is a direct threat to Australia

19 April 2022 11:29 pm

Tulagi, a 1.5 square mile island in the South Pacific’s Solomon Islands, is perhaps the most remote place on the…

Not out

9 April 2022 9:00 am

Can Imran Khan cling on to power in Pakistan?

Turkmenistan may emerge as a global powerbroker

17 March 2022 10:25 pm

While the world is watching Ukraine, there is another former Soviet republic that has quietly undergone regime change. Turkmenistan’s 65-year-old…

Was the Kazakhstan uprising an attempted Jihadi takeover?

11 January 2022 8:15 pm

The Kazakh uprising is over. The stench of burnt-out vehicles and bombed out buildings in Kazakhstan’s most populous city and…

What’s happening in Kazakhstan?

6 January 2022 9:30 pm

Since the start of the new year, riots have spread throughout Kazakhstan. In the former capital of Almaty, the airport has…

Dangerous waters

25 September 2021 9:00 am

The case against Aukus

Did Chinese fentanyl kill Michael K. Williams?

8 September 2021 8:30 pm

Did Chinese-manufactured fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, kill Michael Kenneth Williams, the man who played ‘Omar’ in The Wire? Within minutes…

Would Japan defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack?

28 August 2021 12:31 am

In a parliamentary debate in early June about Covid, Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga said that Australia, New Zealand and…

What kind of empire is China building?

4 August 2021 11:58 pm

As Britain’s small fleet, headed by HMS Queen Elizabeth, cruises towards the South China Sea, there remains a question over…

Chairman Xi and the Communist party’s delusional centenary

5 July 2021 8:55 am

The emperor has new clothes. Arriving at a meeting to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, China’s…

Oiling up

12 June 2021 9:00 am

How China won over the Middle East

Strait lines

20 March 2021 9:00 am

Is Britain heading for war over Taiwan?

Passage to India

20 February 2021 9:00 am

Can Biden’s America contain China?

Is Kazakhstan capable of transitioning to democracy?

13 February 2021 6:00 pm

In the dramatic ‘reveal’ of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, the lead character, private dick Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) violently extracts the…

Coup de grâce

6 February 2021 9:00 am

The downfall of Aung San Suu Kyi

Duterte Harry: why is he the Philippines’ most popular ever leader?

24 January 2021 6:00 pm

If you thought Donald Trump was rude to journalists, hang on to your hats. Miffed by a journalist’s temerity in…

Cold war

12 December 2020 9:00 am

Russia’s bid to control the Arctic

Was 2008 the year China triumphed over the West?

21 November 2020 7:00 pm

Although China’s economy remains smaller than the United States’s in terms of nominal GDP (albeit ahead of the US in…

Erdogan’s game

31 October 2020 9:00 am

Why Turkey is severing its links with the West