ISDP Voices

On May 24, 2018, Burkina Faso’s Minister of foreign affairs, Alpha Barry, announced that after 24 years of cooperation, his country had decided to cease diplomatic relations with Taipei and re-engage with Beijing. While Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China (ROC), views itself as an independent sovereign state, the People’s Republic of China […]

In the wake of the shifting security environment, and with the emergence of new security threats, the protection of overseas citizens and interests has become a diplomatic priority for Beijing. While much attention has been given to the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) role in managing security needs abroad, few observers have taken an interest in […]

The past few months of frenetic diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula, including a highly symbolic summit between the two Korean leaders in April, have represented a remarkable turnaround from the brinkmanship of last year. In fact, at times it has almost seemed too good to be true. Last week, perhaps to be expected, North Korea […]

The meeting between the leaders of China and India in April 2018 appeared to indicate a thaw in relations between the two powers. However, the security deal India signed with Oman in February allowing its navy access to the port of Duqm may suggest otherwise. Only a few years ago, a group of Chinese investors […]

Under the slogan of a new start for peace, the inter-Korean Summit was the first meeting between Korean leaders in over a decade, and just the third since the end of the Korean War. Alec Forss, a project coordinator with ISDP’s Korea Project, discussed its implications with Korea expert Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea […]

The gesture of sending participants to the winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, together with the invitation from Kim Jong-un to the U.S. president for a summit meeting are reflective of a sudden change in North Korean behavior. And this switch, from a policy of repeated belligerence to a charm offensive, has put Japan in a rather […]

There is once again cautious optimism of breaking the deadlock on the Korean Peninsula. A flurry of inter-Korean diplomacy, a “commitment” to denuclearization by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the prospect of a U.S.-North Korea summit have spelled a dramatic change after the peaking of tensions last year. But while these developments bring […]

Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference in December 2017 came a few days after the Russian president took part in the launch of the new Yamal LNG plant in the Russian Arctic, a $27 billion project aiming to overtake Qatar’s leadership in the gas sector. The biggest industrial project in the region, the plant is operated […]

Over the past few weeks a political crisis between the President and Supreme Court of the Maldives has been unfolding. With a population of just over 400,000 people, the former British protectorate is Asia’s smallest country by size and population and is probably best known for its idyllic beaches. However, this comes at a time […]

On December 31, 2017, China’s domestic ivory market was officially shut down. Considering that the trade accounted for more than half of worldwide ivory consumption, Beijing´s decision is seen as turning point, warmly greeted by wildlife conservationists as a major step in combatting animal trafficking and poaching. However, the question remains whether the ban will […]