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...

On January 6th, 2021, a shocking unrest broke out near the Capitol Hill. Encouraged by then-upcoming ousted President Donald Trump, who kept repeating the false claim about stolen elections, the crowd invaded the Capitol Hill, killing at least five people (including one policeman) with hope to u-turn the election. The insurrection failed, but this was a turning point - for many American lawmakers, it was a clear assault on the country's democratic system and thus, various groups like Proud Boys, QAnon and Oath Keepers have been listed as "domestic terrorists" - a really scornful term to describe people trying to remove democracy in the States. The reactions was immediate - a complete shame for so many Vietnamese people abroad. A lot of Vietnamese scholars openly condemned the assault and accused the people of insulting Vietnamese freedom heritage flag and its culture. For some people, this assault was even more effective than any communist propaganda perpetuated - it rui...

I read from an article of The Michigan Daily , where a columnist published an interesting fact that always appears in my mind for a long time, yet finally revealed after too long. It is frequently neglected by Western media, something I can't stand for it. Brandon Cowit, who has made an attempt to search about Russia, has come to a clear conclusion that the Americans totally "ignore" the grief Russians endured. During the 1990s, Russia was led by Boris Yeltsin, considered the friendliest President for the West. Despite Yeltsin's reputation as a drunk, inept and incompetent, with a disastrous neoliberal reform, the West did nothing to solve the problem. Furthermore, the United States openly helped Yeltsin to be re-elected in 1996. As Yeltsin was running like a drunk in Dublin, London, Washington and Paris, Russia's reputation was tarnished globally, including the shock defeat in the First Chechen War to the Chechen separatists. That nurtured Soviet nostalgia that e...

When the United States President, Joe Biden, officially announced his recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish President Erdogan has been infiltrated to his dismay. Like the majority of Turkish nationals, many are strong nationalists, he has rejected the genocide accusation. Yet in the past, only a minority of countries in the world would do this recognition, Uruguay and Cyprus spearheaded. Once the Cold War ended, however, the world shifted to a multipolar order, and the Armenian Genocide began to be remembered widespread. But the United States was, until 2019, not one of the countries that acknowledged the tragedy. With Erdogan's relationship with the West worsened, the United States had seized the opportunity. The American Congress in 2019 made a shocking move, officially denounced the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide. The news from Washington D.C. delivered to the world with surprise because the United States never tried to recognise this before. Erd...

The United States officially recognised the Armenian Genocide in 2019, when Congress issued state recognition of the mass atrocities against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The effort was rebuffed by then-President Donald Trump, who has a harmonious relationship with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but when Trump lost in the 2020 election, Joe Biden officially broke out from the predecessors and finally stated the same on April 24, 2021. Armenians are certainly happy, while Turkish and Azerbaijani nationalists are definitely dissatisfied with what they just saw. Unfortunately for the United States, the recognition could be a reckless move, since the recognition may have also unravelled how the alliance between the West to Turkey is moving spiral backwards. And this can be even more menacing for Washington D.C. because their recognition of the genocide might leave Turkey to project its ambitions independently and clashing with even NATO, EU and in general Western world, leave alon...

Ever since the Euromaidan and tensions increased between Ukraine and Russia, Kyiv has sought to become a prominent player within Europe, by trying to join NATO and EU. But while France and Germany have become more reluctant to accept Ukraine into the EU, due to the unwanted Brexit that saw the United Kingdom left the group, joining NATO maybe even more problematic because NATO also has members who share veto powers. One of them is Turkey, as Kyiv has been seeking to cultivate a friendlier alliance. Now, with U.S. President Joe Biden going to address the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, this can become a problem for Kyiv. Pro-Turkish and anti-Armenian views Ukraine has been at the spotlight when the Euromaidan when Ukrainians joined the protest demanding the pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, to leave power. The Maidan lasted for a year before it successfully toppled the President, forcing him to flee to Russia. The first death in the Maidan was a Ukrainian national of Armen...

On 19 April 2005, in the capital city of Poland, Warsaw, the Polish Sejm (Lower House), officially passed a solution. This solution was abnormal because it laid a historic and important ground for not just Poland's political stance, but also it greatly affected Poland's relations with another country that historically been one of Poland's biggest protectors. Yes, on that night, a cool night in the Polish capital, the Polish Sejm Marshal, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, issued an official recognition. And this, by the moment, Turkey started to change. This move by the Polish government triggered widespread nationwide criticism in Turkey. And more. On 19 April 2005, Poland officially became the 17th country, to recognise the Armenian Genocide. And this is also when Turkey will never be the same again. A complicated tie Turkey and Poland have unique relations with each other. In the past, the Ottoman Empire clashed frequently with the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania. The Polish-...