The deficiencies in planning and training of personnel for disaster relief operations as well as the capability gaps in equipment that the response to Huricane Maria highlighted need to be plugged.
China's Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI), also known as One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR), depends for its success on a tacit alliance with Britain and the financial acumen of the City of London. The London-Beijing axis has likely gathered momentum with Britain's decision to quit the European Union (EU) in June 2016 and Prime Minister Theresa May's triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March 2017, to begin the divorce process.
The pirates of Somalia constitute one one of the greatest threats to maritime security in modern time.Their operations started amidst the political instability, economic crisis and state collapse that characterised the fall of the Siad Barre regime in Somalia in 1991.
The re-election of Justice Dalveer Bhandari to the ICJ is an endorsement of the multilateral diplomacy based on realpolitik that India has been practicing in recent years.
This article analyses the history of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform with a particular focus on India’s aspiration and attempts to become a permanent member on the Council. The primary objectives of this historical examination are to appreciate how hard reforming the UNSC is and to understand how challenging it will be for India to acquire a permanent seat on the Council. Probing the General Assembly debates on UNSC reform, the article exposes the fundamental hurdles to change, the duplicity of the permanent five (P-5) and lack of unity among the stakeholders.
Trump’s new policy statement on Iran has enveloped the UNSC-approved Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in a shroud of uncertainty that could lead to further instability in conflict-ridden West Asia.
The various connectivity projects put forward by India show its involvement as an investor in capacity-building efforts in the recipient countries across sectors of their particular needs and choices, not as an overarching and imposing economic power.
South Africa arguably stands well above its regional counterparts in terms of soft power resources. This is not entirely unconnected with the uncalculated attempts by non-state actors to extend the reach of the country’s soft power status across the world. This article probes the contributions of the informal drivers of South Africa’s soft power. These ‘soft powered’ institutions and individuals (with no definite state affiliation) are critical contributors to South Africa’s soft power diplomacy.
While the willingness of the Maduro regime to silence the opposition is cause for concern, far more worrying is the prospect of the new Constituent Assembly rewriting the Constitution to eliminate the last vestiges of democratic checks and balances.
The Response of CARICOM Armed Forces to Hurricane Maria
The deficiencies in planning and training of personnel for disaster relief operations as well as the capability gaps in equipment that the response to Huricane Maria highlighted need to be plugged.