COVID-19

Is NATO prepared to celebrate its centenary?
25
Aug
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Is NATO prepared to celebrate its centenary?

BY: Jacobien van der Kleij PEJOURNAL - NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, following the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers on 17 June 2020, that the dire situation of COVID-19 does not imply that other challenges have gone away. With 70 years behind them, NATO member states have been hit with numerous historic consequential shifts and threats, shaping the direction of NATO, its deterrence and defence strategies, and indeed its very structure. These include the Readiness Action Plan, launched in 2014 and the Readiness Initiative in 2018, aiming to enhance the readiness of existing national force and new security challenges.…
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Covid-19; The curious case of ASEAN countries
05
Aug
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Covid-19; The curious case of ASEAN countries

BY: Chaitra Arjunpuri PEJOURNAL - When Covid-19 hit the East, first China, then Thailand, Japan, and South Korea last year, the West observed the situation carefully from the other side of the world. Not many of them expected how severely they would be hit very soon, as the death toll rocketed over 200,000 in Europe and 600,000 in the United States. As of now, the US, Italy, Spain, France, and the UK are all ahead of China with the highest numbers of reported cases and deaths.  Though Southeast Asian countries, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, were among the first to be hit by COVID-19, the US has become the new global epicenter of the pandemic,…
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China’S string of pearls in peril
13
Jul
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China’S string of pearls in peril

BY: Navomee Ponnamperuma* PEJOURNAL - In recent months, China has come under much scrutiny for its policies, starting from their mismanagement of the current global pandemic to the renewed hardline approach taken towards Hong Kong. Amidst the chaos, many in the West have overlooked the economic stronghold China has been building in the South Asian region, thanks to President Xi Jinping’s project of the century, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  A project that certain academics refer to as China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’. Contrary to Western institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, China offers a…
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RAND: Why the United States Will Need a New Foreign Policy in 2020
26
Jun
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RAND: Why the United States Will Need a New Foreign Policy in 2020

BY: Raphael S. Cohen PEJOURNAL - Voting may still be months away, but already the 2020 election cycle is in full swing, and the traditional presidential tropes—pledging a new and better future—are out in force. And yet, for all the campaign promises to the contrary, a disconcerting truth remains. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the country faced a growing strategic predicament: The United States' challenges are mounting, and its international commitments increasingly outstrip its means to fulfill them. Since the pandemic, these problems have only multiplied. Consequently, no matter who wins in 2020, big changes in America's foreign policy could be…
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