Ireland has been slowly recovering from a long economic roller coaster that started with the global financial crisis in 2008 and has not improved as quickly as the rest of the world has. Canada, on the other hand, is also facing economic uncertainty thanks to a significant downturn in the commodities trade around the world.
Maritime links and commercial interests are bringing India and Australia closer, opening opportunities for the two nations to address the clear danger of climate change in the Pacific through trilateral aid partnerships.
The fallout from the UK referendum that ended in victory for those wanting the country to exit from the European Union (EU) is still reverberating around the world. However, what does it mean for Africa?
It is a little known fact to many that Japan and Russia never formally entered into a peace treaty following World War II. The dispute has continued these many decades because the two countries still dispute the proper ownership of a chain of islands still held by Russia off Hokkaido.
On June 23, citizens of the United Kingdom will go to the polls to vote on whether their country will remain a member of the European Union. While the outcome will have the greatest impact on residents of Europe, it will also affect the U.S. as well.
Amid secular stagnation, Europe’s challenges have increased dramatically in the past few years, while new risks – particularly Brexit – have potential to trigger negative chain reactions, says Dan Steinbock. Since the European sovereign debt crisis in 2010, Brussels has avoided hard political choices. After weeks of travels in multiple European economies, I believe that’s no longer a viable option.
The next milestone is the UK’s EU referendum on June 23.
Asia’s Brexit exposure
Strategic partnerships are becoming central to the management of international security in the Asia-Pacific region. All the major powers and many of the minor ones have entered into multiple partnerships with both friends and potential strategic rivals.
China, for instance, has cultivated close to 50 strategic partnerships across the region and beyond, with nations as diverse as Afghanistan, Australia and India. By contrast, India has about 20 or so partnerships and Japan around 10.
India’s West Asian diplomacy has undergone a remarkable shift, with Iran becoming a major foreign policy priority for the Modi government. Modi’s recent visit to Iran on 22–23 May resulted in the signing of 12 agreements in areas ranging from trade and commerce to security and counterterrorism, emphasising this progress.
Hardly anyone paid attention when Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley visited Ghana early in May 2016. The lack of interest was probably because of economic realities. Major markets like the US and China are looking less towards West African and Caribbean nations as energy producers. There’s been a dramatic collapse in commodity prices.
Three weeks after assuming office, on 22 April 2016, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang was quoted as saying that Japan is ‘one of Vietnam’s most important cooperative partners’. The importance given to the Vietnam–Japan relationship, on both sides, has increased with the changing power configuration in Asia.
