Category Archives: China

Is North Korea China’s Israel?

Over the New Year’s break, North Korea’s military test-fired some short-range (350-400 kilometer) ballistic missiles, while the country’s news agency reported that it was testing a new 600 mm multiple rocket launcher system capable of carrying nuclear weapons. On Saturday, the often erratic-seeming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his commitment, “to respond with nuke … Continue reading Is North Korea China’s Israel?

Learning from Gen. Douglas MacArthur

I’ve been re-thinking how to proceed with my Project 500 Years. (Actually, as of now, Project 607 years, but who’s counting?) I have a number of ideas of new approaches I might use. But since I’m currently a little fixated on how the era of Western hegemony of the world order is currently ending, I … Continue reading Learning from Gen. Douglas MacArthur

How Tik Tok hooks (very) young people

Americans have become increasingly aware of the addictive effects that Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram have on young people. But we should all be even more concerned about Tik Tok, the English-language version of the signature app owned by China’s ByteDance company. TikTok consists solely of catchy, fast-moving short videos– 60 seconds is considered a … Continue reading How Tik Tok hooks (very) young people

Opportunistic anti-Beijing Astroturfers perform near White House

Living in DC, one comes across opportunistic Astroturf organizations who come here to generate “images” of themselves as feisty, strongly supported “grassroots” orgs that presumably they then show to their financial backers to get more gobs of money. Often, they are laughably unsuccessful at presenting this picture. (The Saudi-supported, anti-Tehran MEK comes to mind…) Today, … Continue reading Opportunistic anti-Beijing Astroturfers perform near White House

Another American first: A self-collapsing empire!

Americans are well-known for their ingenuity and many of them (including Pres. Donald J. Trump) love to crow about being “Number One!” Now, the whole world is seeing the United States achieving a nearly unprecedented record: The country that was this planet’s unchallenged hegemon for the past 28 years is undergoing a collapse of its … Continue reading Another American first: A self-collapsing empire!

Not Cold War 2.0. More like imperial collapse.

A large part of the international-affairs commentatoriat in the United States is opining on the issue of a possible “Cold War 2.0” with China. Some are warning it may come unless we do X, Y,  or Z. Some are saying it is already here. Some are cheering it on. Some are “judiciously” saying it may … Continue reading Not Cold War 2.0. More like imperial collapse.

Covid crisis brings new global influence for China?

(This is Part 4 in my series “Covid chronicles.” Click here for the earlier parts. Note that on that portal-page the blog-posts are presented in reverse-chronological order. The image above is Wuhan, February 2020, by Yihya Alali.) The coronavirus has affected just about every country in the world, though it has affected them all very … Continue reading Covid crisis brings new global influence for China?

“Recovery” of nations from Covid-19

(This is Part 3 in my series “Covid chronicles.” Click here for the earlier parts. Also: The image above is from a video released yesterday by the Chinese TV network CGTN. I’m displaying it not because I approve of its racist depiction of Americans as babies but because it’s an interesting– probably not very effective– … Continue reading “Recovery” of nations from Covid-19