Doug Stokes is Head of the School of International Relations at Modul University Vienna and Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter.
As I argued last month, the Iran war was, partially, always really about China. Not by design, perhaps, but these kinds of conflicts are not easily confined by those who start them. Any disruption to the world’s principal energy chokepoint becomes, whether Washington planned for it or not, a test of the Sino-American balance of
The idea that the United States has been swindled by its Nato allies is not new. Robert Gates, in his valedictory address as secretary of defence in June 2011, warned bluntly that future American leaders might not consider the return on defence investment in Europe worthwhile. He spoke of a ‘two-tiered alliance… Between those willing
The United States is once again in a terrible predicament: a war where the definition of ‘victory’ grows murkier by the day, against an adversary whose advantages lie in the tyranny of geography and its determination to fight. While the US and Israel enjoy overwhelming conventional superiority, a handful of cheap Iranian drones or weaponised
From our UK edition
The question of whether America is fighting Israel’s war is perhaps the least interesting one. Strip away the noise, and a more consequential picture emerges. The United States has used overwhelming force to dismantle what had quietly become the most significant Chinese forward position outside East Asia. Over the past half-decade, Tehran transformed itself from
From our UK edition
The image of Nicolás Maduro in US custody has inevitably resurrected the ghosts of foreign policy past. For the reflexively cynical observer, the narrative writes itself: a Republican White House, a Latin American strongman, and the world’s largest proven oil reserves. As with Iraq in 2003, the slogan of American imperialism and its ‘blood for
From our UK edition
Donald Trump has this week shown that he cares more about economic interests over inherited commitments – even to allies. By contrast, Keir Starmer’s handling of the Chagos Islands dispute reveals an entirely different approach to power – prioritising diplomatic acclaim over strategic imperatives. His decision to cede sovereignty of the islands has been framed as
The US’s most insidious export is damaging its interests
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Meghan Markle has reportedly backed calls to ‘decolonise the curriculum’. This campaign to promote ethnic minority thinkers in place of ‘male, pale and stale’ academics also has support from the Labour party. Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, has said that ‘like much of our establishment, our universities are too male, pale and stale and do not
