Silent Lonesome Man

No, we are not talking about the recent 2022 World Cup qualification between two countries in the detail. And we do not talk about soccer (football) either. We are talking about politics. Two nations, one in West Asia, one in Southeast Asia. Both have nothing in common because of geography apart, they are also differed in religious nature. For the last 1,000 years, nothing has changed. But within the recent frameworks, one can conclude that they are closer than we thought of. These are the stories of two entities: Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, both far apart, yet ironically drawn together due to somehow, American interests. And this is a unique case that need to be examined - or, to be frank, why would Vietnam aim to be like Saudi Arabia? Saudi-American relations To go forth, we have to begin with the relationship between the Middle Eastern Kingdom and the States. The United States had little to none of interests toward the Saudis when the Kingdom was announced in 1932, the same year Saudi

Among supporters of Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, one of the most surprising supporters of Russia, to be frank, are the Africans. Though most supports are founded entirely in West, East and South, rather than in North Africa, but this is a huge disparity considering that North Africa only contributed over 15% of the population of the continent. This shocking high amount of pro-Russian sympathy toward Africa is not entirely unfounded, and so is the pro-Chinese sentiment among Africans. Yet a major distinction is that, African love for Russia and China do not necessary mean they will see them parts of Europe and Asia. In the mind of Africans, mostly the less educated Sub-Saharan ones, Russia and China are like in a different planet than the remaining countries, even if this is compared to Latin America. What has fuelled Africans to become indulged in their own hypocrisies about Russia and China have to be understood from the past of the Africans. From colonial backgrou

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have heard how the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bemoaned: “We have been left alone to defend our state. Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of Nato membership? Everyone is afraid.” His cry during the early days of the brutal, barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine underscored that fear. Even though Russia has been repelled from much of Ukraine's north, the Russian troops had not been completely chased out of east and south. This has led to widespread public speculation, and the most popular has always been Taiwan to Ukraine. This comparison has only come greater and greater by size, and this is fuelled by many similarities, from political system to border. Yet, a much less popular comparison draws Vietnam, instead of Taiwan, as facing a dangerous dilemma more than Ukraine, first stressed by Derek Grossman before echoed by Filipino-Iranian columnist Richard Heydarian .

When the United Nations voted for the resolution ES-11/1 condemning Russian invasion on 2 March, the outcome was not a surprise: Russian invasion was widely condemned. Moscow only got 4 votes against, while the rest were either neutral/absent or in favour. Among those who voted in favour, a significant portion of countries that advocated the pull out of Russian troops from Ukraine, were from Latin America and the Caribbean. Almost these countries here have expressed unwillingness to join the sanctions against Russia due to specific reasons - but the population here, enraged by Russian supports for autocrats and dictators in here, have used the invasion of Ukraine to fuel their angers - much to the dismay of the Putin's dictatorship in Moscow. The UN solution vote on 2 March 2022. Almost every Latin American countries voted in favour of condemning Russia. Vladimir Putin, to be precise, has little interests in going after Latin America, because of the region's rather different hi

India is one of the very few nations in the democratic camp in the planet to have not denounced Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, in a surprise visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed him, albeit in a cold shoulder. But that still explains why India still views Russia too important. Despite the economic ties between two nations are minimal even compared to the size of India's trade with Japan and South Korea, Russia is the base of many Indian military hardware. Unexpectedly, Indians also have a lot of reason to love Russia - during the Cold War, while India was officially neutral, the country had leaned to Moscow following the 1971 war with Pakistan, an Indian victory. The United States was ill-remembered because of Washington's support for Islamabad, despite American popular rally toward the cause of Bangladesh. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had only emphasised the desperate. Putin and Lavrov have been running o