One belt--one road

With the existence of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China, Pakistan and Russia are creating the next world order to rival the fading unipolar one. Several theoreticians have stated that the post-Cold War international system is unipolar but still no world order can remain valued for a very long period of time.
Washington has commanded the world for some time and, therefore, the creation of a strong coalition between China and Pakistan, with Russia also part of the coalition, provides a challenge to the present system.

Originally published on RussiaFeed
Russia’s increasingly important good relations in South East Asia are not limited to its traditional Vietnamese ally nor its burgeoning relationship with Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. Russia’s trade partnerships in the region increasingly include Indonesia, a country with enormous economic potential and a country that is set to be on the south-eastern tip of China’s One Belt–One Road.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the North Korea crisis has little to do with North Korea but that in reality it has everything to do with the United States testing South Korea in order to see how much power Washington can still manage to wield over Seoul, combined with the longer term goal of distracting China from its One Belt–One Road initiative through provocations on the Korean peninsula.

The latest round of US sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea are supposed to be a militant punitive measure designed to hurt three very different economies, though economies that in various ways have all learned to become increasingly self-sufficient over the years. Far from turning the economies of the aforementioned countries into 1990s Iraq, something very different is happening.

China has joined a small club of nations with legal bases outside of its sovereign territory. Currently the US leads the world in foreign bases, both legal and illegal (such as those in Syria). Russia maintains two legal bases outside of Russian and former Soviet territory, one in Vietnam and one in Syria which is set to expand after Russia signed a 49 year agreement with Damascus to extend and expand  a permanent Russian security presence in the country.

China has held a large parade honouring the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In addition to displays of cutting edge, never before seen weapons, China’s President Xi Jinping clarified the purpose of a large, modern and highly trained PLA in the 21st century.
Speaking at a ceremony after the parade, Xi stated,

Barack Obama began his administration with the idea that the US would ‘pivot’ the epicentre of its hegemonic power to Asia. Forgetting the fact that the word ‘pivot’ is in this context, borrowed from the imperialist geo-political writings of Halford MacKinder, the plan which was arrogant in the first place, failed spectacularly by the end of Obama’s time in power.

Pakistan’s long serving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has resigned after the Supreme Court in Islamabad ruled to disqualify him from public office over alleged corruption relating to a Panamanian tax shelter.
Sharif has long been a household name in Pakistan holding the powerful office of Prime Minister between 1990-1993, then again between 1997-1999 and most recent between 2013 up to his present resignation in the summer of 2017.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo has given an interview in which he explained  why he believes that China is the number one long term threat to the United States.

Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki recently stated that the Trump administration does not have a clear policy vision, let alone policy plan for the Middle East. Events on the ground bear this out, but the fact is that America’s isolation from the future progress of the Middle East actually began under Barack Obama and to an extent George W. Bush. This trajectory is now largely irreversible.