ISDP Voices

When Benjamin Netanyahu left the office of prime minister in June 2021, after being the longest-serving head of government in Israel, not many had anticipated his swift return to power. If not the end of his long political career, starting as leader of the opposition (LoP) in 1993 and two stints as prime minister in […]

Normally a communist national party congress is a dull and boring event. The proceedings follow an agenda set in advance, all important appointments have effectively been decided ahead of the congress, speeches and reports are all stereotyped and contain nothing new. Reactions and comments from official sources after the congress are predictable claiming that it […]

Since 2016 the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has run the administration in Taiwan and cross-strait relations have deteriorated due to the DPP’s political and cultural stances—distancing Taiwan from China. The visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August saw cross-strait relations fall to freezing point. China believed the U.S. violated the ‘One […]

As protests over the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman held by the morality police continue to sweep Iran for some time with people’s indignation over the perceived injustice showing no sign of subsiding, the trajectory of the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic posture appears to matter even less to Iranians than any other time. […]

ASEAN burst into life in 1967 with the creation of the Bangkok Declaration, which detailed the aims of the organization, to promote economic, social, cultural, and educational cooperation as well as regional peace and stability through an assemblance of justice, the rule of law, and the principles of the UN Charter. In a very real […]

China’s military drill in the Taiwan Strait following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan acted as an economic wake-up call for the European Union (EU). By weaponizing its geo-economic influence and blocking important trade routes, China exposed Europe´s concern regarding economic dependency in the region. Since 40 percent of EU trade passes through the Taiwan Strait, […]

Despite the fact that trade has been a major factor in the connection between China and Turkey since 200 BC, diplomatic ties between the two nations were not established until the 20th century. In the early 1920s, while Turkey was engaged in its own War of Independence, the last Dynasty in China was overthrown but […]

The United States launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) on May 23, 2022, in Tokyo, Japan. The announcement came almost 15 years to the day after the creation of the “Quad” in the Indo-Pacific. The IPEF – Indo-Pacific in name – appears to be part of a flood of initiatives taken by like-minded […]

Since Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine started in February 2022, Western countries, including the U.S. and its allies in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific, have been focusing on the war. This strategic attention shift has consequences not only for Europe but also the Indo-Pacific. A Russian victory could encourage China to follow Russia’s move and could […]

In his report to the Twentieth Party Congress, Xi Jinping hailed the Communist Party as the driving force behind China’s revolution and modernization; looking ahead, he expressed his conviction that only under the leadership of the Communist Party can the country’s rejuvenation be successfully completed. But he also pointed to some serious problems that had […]