Geopolitics

VorZakone said:
"This means that 64% of NYT headlines that use an episodic frame do not identify the Saudi-led coalition as the actor responsible for the civilian harm. "

Could it have been the Houthis? I don't doubt there is bias but it would be good to know which events were covered.
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Not if "strikes" refers to airstrikes, which was my assumption, but perhaps the authors could be less ambiguous there. They do go on to write:

"While both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels have committed war crimes, it is important to note that the relevant UN reports repeatedly emphasise the Saudi-led coalition’s crimes. For example, in August 2018, the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen reported: ‘Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities’."
 
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/09/imran-khan-pakistan-cypher-ukraine-russia/

THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a classified Pakistani government document obtained by The Intercept.

The document, labeled “Secret,” includes an account of the meeting between State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Asad Majeed Khan, who at the time was Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S.

The document was provided to The Intercept by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or Khan’s party. The Intercept is publishing the body of the cable below, correcting minor typos in the text because such details can be used to watermark documents and track their dissemination.

Lu then bluntly raises the issue of a no-confidence vote: “I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister,” Lu said, according to the document. “Otherwise,” he continued, “I think it will be tough going ahead.”

Lu warned that if the situation wasn’t resolved, Pakistan would be marginalized by its Western allies. “I cannot tell how this will be seen by Europe but I suspect their reaction will be similar,” Lu said, adding that Khan could face “isolation” by Europe and the U.S. should he remain in office.
 
berbatrick said:
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/09/imran-khan-pakistan-cypher-ukraine-russia/

THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a classified Pakistani government document obtained by The Intercept.

The document, labeled “Secret,” includes an account of the meeting between State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Asad Majeed Khan, who at the time was Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S.

The document was provided to The Intercept by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or Khan’s party. The Intercept is publishing the body of the cable below, correcting minor typos in the text because such details can be used to watermark documents and track their dissemination.

Lu then bluntly raises the issue of a no-confidence vote: “I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister,” Lu said, according to the document. “Otherwise,” he continued, “I think it will be tough going ahead.”

Lu warned that if the situation wasn’t resolved, Pakistan would be marginalized by its Western allies. “I cannot tell how this will be seen by Europe but I suspect their reaction will be similar,” Lu said, adding that Khan could face “isolation” by Europe and the U.S. should he remain in office.
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Only thing that is not clear to me in this story is that one would expect Pak ambassador to an important country like US to be a PM loyalist. So it does not make sense that this would lead to overthrow of Imran's Govt. More likely that US used their under the radar Army contacts to overthrow him. Thought it questionable how much US was truly bothered by Pak's support for Russia.
 
Raoul said:
Controversial

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Doesnt this belong more in a culture war thread? But despite that i think there is a emphasis for countries to teach about their history and heritage, but also colonialism and dominance of European powers is remembered more recently.
 
Gehrman said:
Doesnt this belong more in a culture war thread? But despite that i think there is a emphasis for countries to teach about their history and heritage, but also colonialism and dominance of European powers is remembered more recently.
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This is more of a geopolitical phenomenon that affects many countries.
 
Raoul said:
This is more of a geopolitical phenomenon that affects many countries.
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I was thinking about the more sudden decolonize everything projects and teachings that seemed to peak after the death of George Floyd in universities. But surely anyone teaching the history of Islam and its impact on the world teaches this.
 
Raoul said:
Ahh ok. I thought you were saying his entire argument was wrong. He should've doubled checked on where it was being taught.
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No idea who he is but I’d guess he’s trying to imply that a sugarcoated narrative of Arab-Islamic imperial history is taught in “woke” Western institutions while Western colonial endeavors are unfairly demonized in the same places.
 
Raoul said:
Ahh ok. I thought you were saying his entire argument was wrong. He should've doubled checked on where it was being taught.
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I mean, his entire argument is wrong isn't it? The argument is that Western universities don't teach about this stuff, likely I imagine because they fear a backlash.

Putting aside what he means exactly by that, as American university degrees are structured very differently to European ones and someone studying engineering in Germany is not going to be taught about Arab-islamic colonialism.....or indeed any other form, its just not correct. As @2cents says, it is taught there.

There's also going to be a factor of most students at Western universities not being interested in the history of the middle east, any more than they'd be interested in doing a degree on the history of South East Asia or Latin America, which is also taught far less in the west than European or North American history is.

Looking at his feed though, he's definitely solidifying his status as the next right wing provocateur.
 
I've learned about it in high school, let alone university. There is obviously more focus in the islamic conquest of Iberia and then later them being kicked out, but islamic expansion in north africa is mentioned.
 
My A-Level history course covered it in some detail. From the early Arab conquests to the siege of Vienna, and the consequences of Ottoman domination of trade routes which eventually lead to European Imperialsim. Not to degree level but my degree was in Computer Science so the topic didn't come up.
 
Nagasaki city get their event boycotted by the US, France and Germany (alongside other G7 countries ) because these democracies think that not inviting the genocidal Israeli regime makes the Japanese Ceremony illegitimate.

 
Isolated from whom exactly!? Oh yeah the 1.5 billion Chinese now shun us on the internets. "Global West" is just as bull shit a term as "Global South" only used as a generalization by people who are best at making sweeping statements about hundreds of million of people based on their feelings.
 
What a scummy move. What do the Israelis have to do with Nagasaki anyway? fecking idiotic.
 
They aren't being isolated at all because they still have most of the economic and soft power, that won't change any soon. What is happening is that their long held position of being of higher moral standing in the world, compared to other dictatorships, has gone amongst other countries.
 
Beans said:
Do they not?

Same as China?

Same as Thailand?
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When it comes to foreign policy, which is how the world can judge it, yeah sure. Are china and thailand doing anything worse than gaza right now?
 
Beans said:
Do they not?

Same as China?

Same as Thailand?
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When it comes to foreign policy the Global West, particularly the US, is the biggest asshole you can find on this planet. It makes China and Russia look like amateurs.

The West never had the moral high ground, just bigger guns. If you think otherwise, I have a bridge to sell you.
 
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The world doesnt revolve around US as much as it were back in the 80s. They have lost many ground too embroiled in war instead of offering economic support (with ties) back in the 80s and 90s.

Countries gravitates towards china for economic purpose, trade is the name of the game. When people starve and economic tanked the meaning of democracy becomes redundant.

The US still has their enormous say and pull in our era, but most of it aren't out of awe and respect as the big brother anymore.

The US has been known as hipocrites since Iraq war, the western population (mostly) are just 20 years behind in realising that you're not the good guys anymore, nobody is or was.
 
Sky1981 said:
The world doesnt revolve around US as much as it were back in the 80s. They have lost many ground too embroiled in war instead of offering economic support (with ties) back in the 80s and 90s.

Countries gravitates towards china for economic purpose, trade is the name of the game. When people starve and economic tanked the meaning of democracy becomes redundant.

The US still has their enormous say and pull in our era, but most of it aren't out of awe and respect as the big brother anymore.

The US has been known as hipocrites since Iraq war, the western population (mostly) are just 20 years behind in realising that you're not the good guys anymore, nobody is or was.
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I find it amusing when I see things like this. While the West isn't exactly the good guys, this person jumps at every opportunity to praise/talk up China in these discussions. I could overlook it if China wasn't actively involved in supporting the WA and Kokang separatists, arming them to seize land under the guise of protecting 'Chinese' interests in Burma, like right now while putting out statements how they don't interfere other countries' affairs. Oh, not to mentioned, the cheap shot at 'democracy' at every opportunity. I wonder if this guy find a perfect system for everyone. So, when people stave, they should go for autocratic or what?
 
The United said:
I find it amusing when I see things like this. While the West isn't exactly the good guys, this person jumps at every opportunity to praise/talk up China in these discussions. I could overlook it if China wasn't actively involved in supporting the WA and Kokang separatists, arming them to seize land under the guise of protecting 'Chinese' interests in Burma, like right now while putting out statements how they don't interfere other countries' affairs. Oh, not to mentioned, the cheap shot at 'democracy' at every opportunity. I wonder if this guy find a perfect system for everyone. So, when people stave, they should go for autocratic or what?
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As opposed to openly arming and funding separatist, to create instability and deposing democratically elected leader who doesnt support the US interest?

Maybe you live in the West. But for us living in Asia you're no better.

The fact that you find it amusing simply show arrogance that the west is some how superior
 
Sky1981 said:
As opposed to openly arming and funding separatist, to create instability and deposing democratically elected leader who doesnt support the US interest?

Maybe you live in the West. But for us living in Asia you're no better.

The fact that you find it amusing simply show arrogance that the west is some how superior
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The West is superior to be fair
 
Sky1981 said:
As opposed to openly arming and funding separatist, to create instability and deposing democratically elected leader who doesnt support the US interest?

Maybe you live in the West. But for us living in Asia you're no better.

The fact that you find it amusing simply show arrogance that the west is some how superior
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ironically as an Asian myself I feel there is more arrogance in your post than the western posters here. there are 4.5 billion Asians and your “us living in asia” talk like you speak on behalf of all of us when our minds and ideologies are so diverse.

let’s be honest the westerners are not saint but the lives of the global south have been tremendously improved due to the presence of the “west” many of them hate. go check which countries invented things like flush toilet, light blub, motor cars, fridge, tv, internet, phones, and all sort of medical discoveries which helped increased hamanity’s life expectancy from 40 to 70 and so on. there is a reason why most innovations occur in democratic countries.
 
Sky1981 said:
As opposed to openly arming and funding separatist, to create instability and deposing democratically elected leader who doesnt support the US interest?

Maybe you live in the West. But for us living in Asia you're no better.

The fact that you find it amusing simply show arrogance that the west is some how superior
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I'm not sure where this person lives now but pretty sure they're from Myanmar.

As for any kind of isolation, not really. The centres of global power, both hard and soft, are still firmly in Europe and North America.

Still remember Lithuania cancelling their donation of covid vaccine to Bangladesh when they abstained on a UN vote on Russia.
 
JeffFromHK said:
ironically as an Asian myself I feel there is more arrogance in your post than the western posters here. there are 4.5 billion Asians and your “us living in asia” talk like you speak on behalf of all of us when our minds and ideologies are so diverse.

let’s be honest the westerners are not saint but the lives of the global south have been tremendously improved due to the presence of the “west” many of them hate. go check which countries invented things like flush toilet, light blub, motor cars, fridge, tv, internet, phones, and all sort of medical discoveries which helped increased hamanity’s life expectancy from 40 to 70 and so on. there is a reason why most innovations occur in democratic countries.
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There's something very craven and "avert your eyes and take what you're damn well given from the master civilisation" about the mindset of that second paragraph, especially in the context of a thread about a truly grim topic. Do you think the tens of thousands of women and children wiped out or those bombed in that shelter the other day will have been thinking " oh, well, at least the ones slaughtering us with extreme medieval collective punishment in an extended almost year long frenzy have cultural ties to regions of historic innovation, better them than the failed state mafia Russians or the more repressive, comparitively unimaginative Chinese". A country or region having great internal individual/societal achievements that reverberate beyond borders, often through no particular direct good-will should never be a shield for all the very bad stuff they've also done. People in South America/Africa and other regions have a vast amount of legitimate reasons to have animosity for the various historic powers, regardless of some having a superior internal governance historically than others.
 
Its still just the democratic capitalist countries vs the totalitarian capitalist countries & and the failed communist countries in the traditional understanding of word.

The US showing unwavering support for Israel is nothing new even though they shouldnt.
 
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