Introduction The South China Sea is a flashpoint regarding conflict between Western nation states and the central government in Beijing. Approximately $3 trillion in trade passes through there on an annual basis. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS),  enacted in 1982, created zones in neighbouring countries called Exclusive Economic Zones. China has, under Xi Jinping, characterized a nationalistic approach to domestic  and foreign policy that puts a stranglehold on the narrative of a “one China policy“ that the central government expects nati ..read more

Rigid, semiconscious, his face an ashen mask, Senator Kennedy lay in a pool of his own blood on the concrete floor, a bullet deep in his brain and another in his neck. Juan Romero, a busboy whose hand Kennedy had shaken before the shots, tried to comfort him. Bill Eppridge/Life Pictures   The assassination attempt on Donald Trump today was a shock. But, how will this affect the presidential race leading up to the November election and the outcome?   Now, Mr. Trump is physically hurting. But what about his psyche and that may be the bigger problem that he will be fac ..read more

 The pageantry of electoral strategies in non-western nation states in comparison to democracies Keywords: International Criminal Court    Gaza     Israel  Introduction The spectrum of polarizing political institutions is gaining strength. The strain on Democratic institutions because of far right nationalist or far left idealism has become obvious since the end of Covid. For China, it began with the appointment of Xi Jinping in 2013 and most notably, Donald Trump in the United States. Justin Trudeau in Canada has an activist agenda that suits a small segmen ..read more

Iranian fundamentalists storm the American embassy in 1979 America has been letting Iran off the hook since 1979 and the Iran hostage crisis. Iranian students emboldened by the successful  return of Ayatollah Khomeini who had been in  exile in France and whose group consisted of Islamic fundamentalists ousted American ally The Shah. The result was the students storming the American embassy and talking over 50 American hostage for 444 days. The Carter Administration waffled and misplayed the situation from the outset. The Carter Administration was weak and this would lead to the e ..read more

                                                          President - Elect Lai Ching-te “In the global election year of 2024, in this most anticipated first election, Taiwan has scored the first victory for democracy, ” Lai said in his victory speech, referring to the roughly four dozen national elections scheduled to be held around the globe this year." Taiwan's DPP has ..read more

This chart demonstrates the ongoing elements of apartheid that have been occurring inside Tibet for over 60 years. Chinese authorities are transforming Tibetan society into another Chinese province. Dr. Gyal Lo wrote in a New York Times piece on September 23, 2023  "The One Million Tibetan Children in China’s Boarding Schools" The One Million Tibetan Children in China’s Boarding Schools that the central government is culturally brainwashing the next generations of Tibetan children in  Chinese boarding schools eradicating parental rights and breaking apart f ..read more

                                                                       Mao announces a new China in 1949 The notion of a political leviathan, historically, could be traced back to emperor Caesars Rome. It is appropriate to name the CPC - Communist Party China -as a political force in the current international global environment. The CPC is a growing threat to g ..read more

  Do we have a prima facie obligation  to obey the law? McCabe says that "God is  not morally responsible for our misdeeds; such responsibility belongs entirely to us." Now, if we accept that God defers good judgement to his teachers on Earth to instil better judgement on His followers, then we are left with moral obligations that are prima facie in nature and subjective to the circumstance and individual who must rely on their own judgement to do he right thing. And so governments enact laws to guide people from making errors- moral or otherwise. With that, the state thro ..read more

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UOCH) indicates that, since 2008, there has been 6407 Palestinian fatalities and 152, 560 Palestinian injuries. Conversely, Israeli fatalities for the same period number  308 with 6,307 Israeli injuries. So when the recent onslaught orchestrated by  HAMAS resulted in more than 1,200 Israeli fatalities; 1537 deaths in Gaza by Israeli reprisals according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. This disproportionate response by Israel to Palestine uprisings is typical. These numbers are reported by CBS through October 12 ..read more

  Introduction The People's Republic of China has grown economically to 12.24 Trillion in 2017 according to World Bank figures.  Mao Zedong's passing in 1976 ushered in reforms under Deng Xiaoping that continue to the present period approaching a mandated "Made in China 2025" objective of surpassing established industrialized nation - states in technological prowess. China continues to adhere to its authoritarian tenets since the CCP ousted the Kuomintang government in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.  Currently, the central government has maintained its populist authoritar ..read more