Silent Lonesome Man

North Korea was competing for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as well as the 2023 Asian Cup held in neighbouring China when the country surprisingly announced its withdrawal from the qualifications in early May 2021. Prior to North Korea's withdrawal, the country was fourth in the group, but only one point behind Turkmenistan, the group leader, gathering eight, including two important draws to South Korea and Lebanon, and a win against the latter, leave aside its easy win over Sri Lanka. North Korea's withdrawal, as we later know, proved disastrous for Turkmenistan, since they were the only team in the group to beat North Korea prior to the Chollima's disqualification - they lost three points and was no longer able to decide its fate, while South Korea utilised this advantage to crush Turkmenistan 5-0, officially confirmed its qualification for Asian Cup 2023 and the final round of 2022 World Cup. But we won't talk so much about Turkmenistan and South Korea. Instead, we wou...

  The alliance between Russia and China has emerged radically since the end of the Cold War. China, now a wealthier, more powerful and economically more prosperous, allying with slowly diversifying and less reliant on Western investors Russia, partly contributed by the increasing antipathy against the West in both nations. The two big nations are cooperating on many fronts, and China is the only country to not give a damn about sanctions the West imposed on Russia and recently, China, over human rights abuse, military aggression and its political infiltration. Yet Russia and China alone can't make them possible to overcome tough opponents. The United States has already built a vast network of allies in Europe and is also making one in Asia in a rapid process. Thus, any potential confrontation right now could bring huge risks to both Beijing and Moscow, so trying to provoke and challenge the response of America and its partners in the current play tool is being used by both governme...