5 Aug. 2019: Yesterday CNN aired a program with the provocative title "Boris Johnson could be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom" Boris Johnson just broke a prime ministerial record - and not in a good way. Plus there are four scenarios in which crashing out of the EU can be prevented. But it will be a herculean task. Boris Johnson’s Majority Falls to One Seat, Heightening Chances of an Election.

6 Aug. 2019: Across the globe this year, white supremacists have left manifestos referencing to the grand replacement conspiracy theory to justify slaughtering religious and ethnic minorities. As white replacement theory propagates online (galvanized by anti-immigrant rhetoric from far-right populists the world over, from Trump to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán), so does the belief in an all-encompassing “white, European identity” in need of saving. The racist lie that is fueling the US terrorist attacks.

7 Aug. 2019: Indian-administered Kashmir remains in a state of lockdown. And Pakistan has warned war could break out with India. What happened with Kashmir and why it matters.

9 Aug. 2019: For nine weeks now Hong Kong protesters have been dominating the battle for public space. Then yesterday 3,000 lawyers demonstrated in Hong Kong with three days of demonstrations to take place at the city's airport. Will China now crush the protests in Hong Kong?

29 Aug. 2019:  Pictured below left is a Hong Kong policeman pulling a gun on a protester on Sunday. Meanwhile this morning China rotated troops (picture right) in its People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong. From Vancouver to Auckland and Hong Kong understanding the new Chinese nationalism.

1 Sept. 2019:  While the recent wildfires in the amazon remind us of the urgency, things are not as bleak as some want us to believe and as we will see on a few examples there are still ways to effectively stay ahead of climate change. From climate change denialism to the Brazilian rainforest fires and solutions going forward.

11 Sept. 2019:  Following articles in the Economist, Foreign Policy and the Washington Post, the growing friction between the U.S. and China, combined with the rapid rise of China's economy and its military, has stirred a debate about whether the U.S. and China are headed toward a Cold War. Are the U.S. and China headed for a Cold War?

14 Sept. 2019:  In Talking To Strangers (published 10 Sep. 2019), Malcolm Gladwell explores why It is so hard to do. The underlying thesis of Gladwell is that people like Berny Madoff (the dishonest investor) and Amanda Knox (falsely accused of murder) had something in common with Hitler, in that they all were what he calls “mismatched”: either a liar acting like an honest person (Madoff, Adolf) or an honest one acting like a liar (Knox). When Britain gave Hitler the go-ahead.

16 Sept. 2019:  Yesterday the price of oil went up again leading even Jens Stoltenberg to say that also NATO was now concerned. Why Washington should push for a resolution to a disastrous war.

19 Sept. 2019:  New developments in reference to the Rohingya and Myanmar case going forward including the why and how of the situations.UN; Security Council refers the matter to the International Criminal Court, and through the Genocide Convention, a demand can be made to the International Court of Justice for compensation and reparations to the Rohingya. The politics of statelessness investigation.

21 Sept. 2019: With five arrests CBS and other news channels, this morning reported that thousands attend Area 51 events in Nevada desert drawing on their belief that there are UFOs and aliens. But apart from the fact that the US is littered with countless new religions let us take this humorous event as an opportunity to take a look at what explains: Americas enduring fascination with UFOs.

23 Sept. 2019: Thomas Cook has been synonymous with imperial Britain, its decline during 2019 seems more than a little symbolic. The rise and fall of the Thomas Cook Group.

25 Sept. 2019: When the Company was being criticized for its misdeeds and its governor-general, Warren Hastings the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal was on trial, “Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned. They therefore do as they like.” The impeachment of the first governor-general of Bengal.

27 Sept. 2019:  Such was the reputation of the East India Company that in the cold winter of 1772-3, panic spread across the 13 Colonies that the Company would be let loose on America. John Dickinson, the “Penman of the Revolution,” feared that the soldiers of the Company, having plundered India, were now “casting their eyes on America as a new theater whereon to exercise their talents of rapine, oppression and cruelty.” The empire within an empire that changed the future fate of India.

1 Oct. 2019: Protester shot in chest with live police round during Hong Kong National Day protests (Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai says he has seen a video clip that captures the moment before the student was shot, and concludes that what the officer did was "not appropriate"). The Hospital Authority says that as of 10pm local time, a total of 66 people have been injured in today's protests. These include two in critical condition, and another two in serious condition.

2 Oct. 2019: Whereby modern China has formally integrated the buffer regions, stretching from Manchuria in the northeast through Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet, and into Yunnan and along the mountains in the south, central to the self-understanding of the Chinese leadership today is the concept of Han Chinese. Understanding modern China.

9 Oct. 2019: The YPD Kurds claim border is already being shelled, US appears to backtrack but Ankara says it will not be ‘controlled by threats’. Meanwhile Russia warns US policies in Syria could 'ignite' whole region. What next with the Kurdish conundrum?

15 April 2019: Fire engulfs Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris:

21 April 2019: With rumors rife with Russian interference today Ukraine will go back to the poll whereby a question is if Zelensky could prove a less convenient opponent for the Kremlin than Poroshenko is. Mark Galeotti in his recent book (published February 12, 2019) maintains that in the case of Ukraine Russia's approach is both rooted in military thinking and in the civilian national security establishment. Whereby apart from a look at the role of ethno-nationalism during the current elections, I will follow this up with the question: Major Case Study: Why is Ukraine so important to Russia.

22 April 2019: Ten days before the major attack in Sri Lanka police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued intel alert to top officers warning that Islamist group NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath founded in 2004 originally in Tamil Nadu, India) will carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches of Colombo and the Indian high commission. Taking place around 8.45 am (local time) as the Easter Sunday masses were in progress the carnage has now been reported worldwide with the Eiffel Tower in Paris that went dark on Sunday night. A concern is that it might leed to more violence in Sri Lanka.

18 May 2019:  Titled the biggest electoral show on earth India's general election is currently nearing its end with voters poised to decide whether to renew their faith in nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Polling hass been unfolding over seven phases around the country and is ending on May 19. All the votes from the country's 29 states and seven union territories will be counted on May 23. One of the issues I have researching during this period is how a powerful quasi-religious Hindu nationalist organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been providing a crucial backbone for Prime Minister Modi providing evidence where Modi really comes from. “I think it is probably a god-gifted ability.”

25 May 2019: When President Xi Jinping visited WHO headquarters for the first time in Geneva in 2017 he brought along a bronze statue showing acupuncture marks on the body. Whereby now it has been announced that details about traditional medicine will be included in the 11th version of the WHO's global compendium, known as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems or ICD, this while it is stated that it is not an endorsement of the scientific validity of any Traditional Medicine practice or the efficacy of any Traditional Medicine intervention. Case Study: Why acupuncture is a placebo based on pre-scientific mysticism.

1 June 2019: Recently two Homeopathic Anthroposophic doctors in France were banned from practicing medicine due to the (unnecessary) death of two patients. In fact, this was not the first time similar happened and given I put the focus on Acupuncture last week even more influenced by the placebo effect is of course homeopathy. Case Study: The little known background of Homeopathy.

7 June 2019: On the 30th anniversary of the violent June 4 crackdown, New Century Press, published transcripts obtained from a party official who managed to make copies at the time and make clear how the lessons taken from Tiananmen continue to guide Chinese leadership today: Today's legacy of the Tiananmen crisis.

9 June 2019: We now seem to be in the early stages of a new arms race. China and the US are both seeking to dominate the weapons of the modern era – the hardware and software of information technology, which are becoming the keys to superiority in both military capacity and economic power. Global dominance in six years is the aim. The 21st Century Arms Race.

13 June 2019: At least 79 people were injured in yesterday's protest with two remaining in serious condition. Meanwhile this morning a small crowd of former protesters is back outside the Hong Kong government offices...to sort out recyclables and unused materials, and clean up the rubbish. Following is today's front page of Hong Kong's leading newspaper:

16 June 2019: Demonstrators in central Hong Kong today. There is a concern that if the extradition bill is not retracted (and when Hongkongers won’t bow to Beijing their leaders likely will) this will leed to acts of desperation.

19 June 2019: Just recently another book titled "Churchill's Secret War with Lenin"(2019) came out that focusses on the British intervention in Russia. There is however much more to the story than this recent book manages to convey. In fact, not just this latest one but most books about the subject fail to grasp the underlying issues something that based on recently unclassified documents only now can start to be told. Major case study: When Spies invaded Russia p.1.

21 June 2019: Weapons of Mass Disruption: A response focused on changing China’s behavior is woefully inadequate. U.S. primacy was born not by defensive protectionism but by building a great economic engine. Outlook for the world China, US, Europe, N.Korea,Venezuela, and the way forward with Iran.

25 June 2019: The secret mission of the three interventions against Russia was to establish a signals intelligence support group, which was meant not only to guarantee British access but also to serve as a relay for intelligence gathered within Russia and the surrounding areas to London, where it would serve as an informed and reliable basis for further action. Without such signals intelligence presence, the War Office was blind. When Spies invaded Russia p.2. Major case study: To mold irregular warfare into a method which honored the Imperial myth.

29 June 2019: While the intervention in North Russia was based primarily on commercial and military imperatives and secondarily on Imperial great power politics, not of little importance here was that on 1 March 1918, the Murmansk government informed Petrograd that they wanted to accept the Allied offer to assist in the defense of the city. The Soviets acting on a positive reply by Trotsky placed regional military authority into the hands of a council controlled by Allied officers. Defense of the port passed to the Allied forces with Russian cooperation. When Spies invaded Russia p.3. Major case study: The alleged protecting of supplies propaganda.

30 June 2019: Opened on 28 June 2019 an exhibition in Arras organized by the Palace of Versailles starts with the proclamation of the German Empire in the same  Hall of Mirrors that witnessed the Signing of Peace of Versailles on 28 June 1919.Today most historians agree however that contrary to earlier legends it was the First World War itself, not the treaty that concluded it, that set loose the forces and ideologies that would convulse Europe and initiate another global conflict. And that for all of Versailles’ problems, it represented a clear end to a major war in a way that we rarely see today. The tribulations and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles.

3 July 2019: As we have seen in the previous parts of this investigation the initial interventions in Russia were not, until their very end, monitored by traditional military or political chains of command. Their planners were primarily intelligence-operations specialists whose objectives were to preserve and expand the Empire by reconstituting Russia "to withstand German economic penetration after the war."This is why, in the beginning, there were so few troops sent to either of the two areas: there was no need for them. Their purpose was to extend intelligence; that was a technological matter, which required a small supporting military group. But this was soon going to change. When Spies invaded Russia p.4. Major case study:  How North Russia evolved into its military phase.

6 July 2019: This happens once in a while that we receive e-mails asking if we know of the latest whereabouts of the self-styled Prince Michael of Albany. This time it was because of two articles in June one in The Scotsman newspaper and another publication in Poland. About a Polish art historian who claims to be a blood relative of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

8 July 2019: On 4 July the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s report about preliminary investigations into the crime of enforced deportation of over 723,000 Rohingya's from Myanmar to Bangladesh was released. The case laid out makes for fascinating reading, but with the upcoming court battle now also the ideological battle will heat up. This includes solving the alleged Rohingya"ethnicity" question and the case of Jacques P. Leider who equated the famous German weekly Der Spiegel's reporting on the fleeing Rohingya as fabricated. The Rakhine/Rohingya Conundrum.

12 July 2019: When General Poole saw the need to get various goods (including Oil that came via the British controlled part of the Middle East) out of Russia it drove Poole and Captain Proctor (Intelligence Archangel) to suggest that a few troops be moved into Archangel-troops which could provide logistical security for the transport effort. It is uncertain whether they knew about MIO’s operational intentions for that area, or for the similar plans and problems in the south. Given the circumstances and priorities of immediate supply and subsequent commercial advantage, it was reasonable that what Poole suggested, what the Cabinet considered, and what Military Intelligence- operations-MIO provided, made up an acceptable strategic response. Thus hence the objectives of all the interested Imperial parties started to coalesce. When Spies invaded Russia p.5. Major case study: What must develop into a civil war.

14 July 2019: Two days ago marked three years since a tribunal found that China's claim of historic rights in the South China Sea was unlawful. Since however, China has more forcefully asserted its claims to more than 80% of the South China Sea, building runways and military facilities on territory claimed by other nations. In addition, China has utilized less conventional means to clear the sea of its maritime adversaries, a so-called maritime militia: Increased friction in the South China Sea and why.

19 July 2019: Ukraine will head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, this after Volodymyr Zelenskyi dissolved the parliament following his landslide victory against Petro Poroshenko in April, bringing elections forward by several months. Some 50 to 70 percent of the next parliament is expected to be entirely new faces, leaving Ukraine’s future almost entirely in the hands of political novices. Ukraine as a test case.

21 July 2019: Widely watched also in countries like Russia and the UK Netflix’s 'The Last Czars’ alternates acted scenes with talking head explanations from British and US academics and popular historians. At the beginning of each episode, Pierre Gilliard (former tutor to the five children of Emperor Nicholas II) visits today known as Anne Anderson thought to be Princess Anastasia in hospital. In the series, Gilliard is trying to identify if the woman claiming to be Anastasia is the real Princess. Not mentioned in the Netflix series is that there was a British attempt to move the Tsar and his children out of Russia that at this point might be worth mentioning. A German and British plot to take the last Tsar.

22 July 2019: Just reading a new book titled Nations, Identities and the First World War: Shifting Loyalties to the Fatherland published on 12 Jul 2018, I notice an interesting section about "The Flemish Lion".

24 July 2019: Last week US government employees and political pundits in Washington DC woke with a startling headline in THE HILL that reports about the US Government and the  White House in seriousness reported that: the military 'stands ready' and feds warn ufo enthusiasts against storming area 51. The aria 51 attack plan and the invention of UFO's.

25 July 2019: Earlier a Russian naval move that seemed to be coordinated with China, near the contested Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, has raised a concern. But then even more surprising was the Russia-China joint air patrol that saw Japan and South Korea scramble jets. It also signals an ever-closer relationship between an assertive, but declining Russia, and a rising China, which looks set to overtake the US as a technological and economic power in the years ahead. But what seemed a brilliant way for Putin to turn his back on the West and magnify Russia’s influence is looking like a trap that his country will find hard to escape. Far from being an equal partner, Russia is evolving into a Chinese tributary. What does it all mean.

27 July 2019: As we have seen in the previous parts of this investigation the initial interventions where primarily intelligence-operations specialists whose objectives were to preserve and expand the Empire by reconstituting Russia "to withstand German economic penetration after the war." Whereby while in 1918 the many different White Russian and anti-Bolshevik factions remained divided and failed to agree on a strategy the involvement of the Czechs in Russia provided the Bolsheviks with serious opposition. This also allowed the emergence of two rival anti-Bolshevik authorities, Komuch (with its "People's Army") and the Provisional Siberian Government in Omsk, with a new mission: to unite the anti-Bolshevik forces of the east. When Spies invaded Russia p.6. Major case study: British spycraft in Bolshevist Russia.

10 Nov. 2018:  Tomorrow will mark the passing of 100 years since the end of World War I. In 1918, on “the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” on a train (of which the above-pictured one with Macron and Merkle is a replica) in a forest near the French city of Compiègne the armistice was signed. I did do extensive research on the days that followed the armistice and will place that on a later date. My presentation of the following research, however, refers to some of the less known aspects of another centennial. The Kristallnacht of 9/10 November 1938: Hitler's Bolshevism and the myth of the Jewish Conspiracy.

12 Nov. 2018: World War I became known as the war to end all wars due to how deadly it was to those who went into combat. The advent of mustard gas and chlorine gas along with trench warfare, made the casualties rate much higher than previous conflicts. A complete timeline of what happened.

15 Nov. 2018: While the previous graphic about the First World War shows that most lives were lost on the battlefields throughout East and Western Europe, the role of the war in shaping and creating the state-system of the modern Middle East merits much more than an afterthought. The Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers signed an armistice on October 30, 1918, which was supposed to end hostilities, even before the armistice in Europe was signed. But the wars in the Middle East didn’t stop with the armistice. Why World War I was pivotal to the creation of the modern Middle East.

17 Nov. 2018: In a 23 August interview with CNN famous Watergate reporter Dan Rader said that if you think the Michael Cohen guilty plea and Manafort's conviction was a shock then "stay tuned." The former news anchor said other things Mueller is working on will make yesterday "pale by comparison." All indications are that after a long period of silence during the close of the midterm campaign, Mueller is about to do something big, or a series of somethings. What Robert Mueller Knows.

19 Nov. 2018: Mueller's special counsel's office investigates issues relating to obstruction and collusion/conspiracy with the Russian interference during the election, what the following intends to do is look at some of the counterintelligence aspects involving Israeli, Saudi, and Emirati officials. How Israeli, Saudi, and Emirati officials influenced Trump to strike a bargain with Putin.

21 Nov. 2018: Air pollution reduces average life expectancy by 2 years:

28 Nov. 2018: Two days ago marked a decade since Pakistan-based terrorists killed over 160 people in India’s financial capital of Mumbai. The city remained under siege for days, and security forces disjointedly struggled to improvise a response. The 10th anniversary of an assault that raised fears of war with Pakistan and why in the end it was about Kashmir.

8 Dec. 2018: This was an explosive week for the Russia probe as the special counsel signals his interest in ending his investigation with sentencing memos involving Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, and Paul Manafort leaving only open the potential arrest of Oliver Stone.  Includes update 20 April 2019:  Why Robert Mueller is ending his report.

10 Dec. 2018: Belgium’s Africa Museum, once seen as Europe’s last unreconstructed museum of the colonial era has just reopened. One of the present day Congolese contributors Mpane says he initially had doubts about taking part, despite reassurances that proper context would be provided for the colonial statues. "But when I started to dig a bit deeper into it, I realized we're really talking about our history and we must try to make sense of it. If we don't take part in it, who is going to do it?" Belgium’s Africa Museum Had a Racist Image. Can It Change That?

12 Dec. 2018: Tree cover map of the world. This helps to answer a few geographic questions: Why do Australians live on the eastern seaboard, why do we divide Africa into "North" and "Sub-Saharan", why isn't Brazil's interior settled?

14. Dec. 2018: As someone who works with information a lot, I am aware that there are many tendencies in both the context and how we think that can lead us astray and distort our view of the world. But is there something we can do about it? I’ve started with points more related to how we think as individuals, moving through to more society-wide actions: Here are eight ways how we can form more accurate views of the world.

16. Dec. 2018: Arrived in Shanghai this morning:

20. Dec. 2018: Crossing into N. China today:

26. Dec. 2018: While there are many good things about China, and while there are also some concerns, the one issue that has remained under-researched is: China's ticking time-bomb. Updated 4 Jan. 2019

30 Dec. 2019: Encompassing 65 countries with a combined gross domestic product of US$23 trillion and a total population of 4.4 billion, the belt and road strategy was introduced as a way to advance China’s political interests abroad, but is it viable? Many projects also have drawn criticism for being overvalued or disconnected to the development needs of the host countries, thus China’s grand ambition furthermore may not necessarily be a road to riches for its partners. Thus has China's new Silk Belt and Road failed? Updated 15 Feb. 2019

3 Jan. 2019: A New Year’s Day editorial in China’s official military newspaper told its readers that “war preparations” should be a top priority for the year. The following day, President Xi Jinping offered a forceful reminder that Beijing considers Taiwan its most likely focus on conflict. Is China planning to take Taiwan by force?

12 Jan. 2019: In an investment, spree reminiscent of the golden years of 'big science' in post-war America, and venturing into relatively new fields some in the West now feel threatened by China’s advances in science. Unveiling China's big science.

27 Jan. 2019: Currently at the Sundance Festival  for 9 days, yesterday I was able to see the full current version of the Cold Case Hammarskjöld production, whereby it is remarkable (tipped off at the time by the Hammarskjöld Foundation) how much the  basic scenario still is like the one I commented on in August 2016  and as it appears to me only the filming of certain scenes were not done yet at the time. Why the mystery of Hammarskjöld murder might soon be solved.

2 June 2018: Revisiting India's Harappan civilization including new answers as to where the Indo-European languages came from, enter:

5 June 2018: When history was first taking shape as a university discipline in the nineteenth century, elite young men were fed a diet of Greek and Roman history. Thus there was the misuse of antiquity and the Holy Roman Empire, Nationalism, and today Presentism. Towards a future of historical approach, enter:

10 June 2018:  About Hard health data, waste, and how a proper google search might help you.

Major Case Study 17 June 2018: Analyses of what is currently happening in the world, including economically, going forward the next few months: North and South Korea, China, Russia, the US, Iran, Mexico, India, Central and South America, Turkey, and so on.

20 June 2018: British Imperial Agents invade Russia P.1: July 16-17 will mark the centennial of the death of Nicholas II and his family. Placing this in its larger context of British intelligence and its intend to control Russia economically, here the lesser known aspects surrounding the events of 1918.

23 June 2018: British Imperial Agents invade Russia P.2:  The British Banking scheme to control Russia's economy and the Allied intervention.

1 July 2018: Artificial intelligence: The question about current medical efficiency and that of digital authoritarianism versus liberal democracies.

18 July 2018: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: Because today I will be leaving for on a lecture and seminar tour in China, I will not be able to post much on this website for a while. But considering that a recent two-part article detailing a plan to save the Tsar and his family plus the British Banking scheme to control Russia's economy and the Allied intervention, has drawn such a large readership I will add a third part expanding on the previous two including: From Rasputin to little known aspects of Nicholas's II abdication and the situation in Russia.

2 Aug. 2018: Today arrived in Guangzhou China, (pictured below), tomorrow flight for transit in Beijing which will end my current visit to China. And in two days will post an article about Shantung the Versailles Treaty and the Manchurian episode (one of my topics here in China) which in a way broke the League of Nations.

4 Aug. 2018: As I pointed out on 20 Jan. 2017, the League of Nations ratified the Treaty of Versailles of which I detailed what exactly it entailed. Today, nearing the centennial of the Versailles Peace Conference, now some lesser known details. Shantung the Versailles Treaty and the Manchurian episode.

13 Aug. 2018: Having previously taken occasional note as this matter unfolded, following a meeting with a number of experts, I am now putting all the dots together. The Trump/Russia investigation what can be said today.

24 Dec. 2017: The last few days have been awash with a media avalanche about the fact that the Congress, a decade ago quietly set up a multimillion-dollar program to investigate what are popularly known as unidentified flying objects, UFOs. Why the initiative might rather be reeking of desperation.

27 Dec. 2017:  Conflicting scholarship on the issue of the Rohingya in Myanmar, revisiting the Four Cuts Strategy, and China. What next with Myanmar and its Chinese influence. Plus update 2 February.

30 Dec. 2017: With the conflict in Syria slowing down the conflict in Yemen seems anything but over.

2 Jan. 2018: It would be somewhat ironic if Iran, in its most strategically advantageous position in the Middle East since 2010, when it was expected it would press its advantage in the region in the year ahead is forced to put its ambitions aside to deal with unrest at home. What to make of the Iran protests?

5 Jan. 2017: The upcoming talks in Seoul have brought up the question if a US limited strike strategy against N.Korea is now on or off the table, whereby the question few are asking is in reference to China. From bloody nose attack to nonmilitary options? Plus update 18 January.

9 Jan. 2017: While the end of Northern Song and the beginning of Southern Song Dynasty is considered a high point of Chinese innovation in science and technology, it is also where we will discover, lay the roots of Chinese Nationalism or the idea Han cosmopolitanism. The East Asian World Order.

14 Jan. 2017: The emergence of China's population as a monocultural and monoethnic people. The concept of Han Chinese.

18 Jan. 2018: A Chinese nuclear attack submarine surfaced near Japan northwest of the disputed Senkaku Islands and hoisted the Chinese flag this while it is also reported that China builds up a new presence near the Doklam disputed border with India.To better understand it is important to know about the post-1989 Chinese patriotism and belief that a strong China reclaiming its core interests in Asia should be compatible with a China engaging in the liberal international order at the global level. China's New Nationalism.

12 May 2018: Currently still working my way through the Pacific region this is (showing the more industrialized areas versus the others) what it looks like by night:

28 Dec. 2016: Other subjects I have covered in the recent past are Russia, Europe, Brexit, South Asia, the USA, South China Sea debacle, and so on. A look at other developments going forward in 2017.

Above a map of Syrian refugee flows.

20 Jan. 2017: On 10 January 1920, the League of Nations ratified the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending World War I with Germany. Much has been written about the treaty which concluded the First World War, its competing and sometimes conflicting goals. And as we shall see it also was the beginning of a long propaganda exercise to discredit the victors. P.1 Reparations and the famous Article 231.

1 Febr. 2017: Weimar politics and the reception of the Versailles Peace Treaty. The conspiracy theory that gave rise to Hitler:

6 Febr. 2017: Given its centennial this year no doubt we will see a lot of renewed discussions about the insurrection by Lenin and those that were willing to fight with him to overthrow the Provisional Government. But the most important event that followed no doubt where the complex situations that ensued when the Russian Empire fell apart. First, some unanswered questions about the event that brought the Civil War to the Russian heartland. Captives of the Russian Civil War P.1: Why and how the Czech Legion conquered the Siberian railway.

12 Febr. 2017: After the 1917 Bolshevist insurrection the Russian Empire also stood at Germany’s mercy. But it was signing the diktat peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk that largely determined the actual fighting in 1918. Captives of the Russian Civil War P.2: The Counterrevolution and the Anatomy of Allied Intervention.

20 Febr. 2017: One of the most serious threats to the Bolsheviks came from the would-be Russian government controlled, in Samara and Ufa provinces. And when the latter issued a formal invitation for the Allies to intervene militarily in Russia’s civil war. The United States and Japan promptly signed an agreement on proposed troop deployments to Siberia. Captives of the Russian Civil War P.3: The rise and fall of Komuch’s People’s Army.

28 Febr. 2017: Just as in February 1917, in Petrograd, nobody had got the revolution they wanted, by end 1918 nobody got the counter-revolution they wanted. Thus the emergence of Kolchak as supreme ruler. When the Allies started to pull back the Red Army stormed into Ufa pushing the Whites back to the Ural Mountains. However, Trotsky’s heightened focus on the eastern front did open up room for Denikin's Volunteer Army in the south. While by not pursuing Yudenich into Estonia, Trotsky had levered Britain into a policy of accommodation. Captives of the Russian Civil War P.4: From White resurgence to the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement.

12 March 2017: The increased risk of war in Korea. Will the U.S. accept a nuclear N.Korea or intervene P.1.

25 May 2017: Since early on 23 May, the media have been abuzz about the incendiary statements about Iran and Israel posted on Qatar’s state-run news agency (that authorities blamed on hackers) sparked a regional dispute Wednesday, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia blocking Qatari media including Al-Jazeera. The series of disputes of which this is just the latest spat, as we shall see, go back some years. Except for this time around things are set to become much worse. Case Study: Qatar's master strategy or opportunism?

6 June 2017: Gulf plunged into diplomatic crisis as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Egypt broke diplomatic relations and cut all land sea and air contacts with Qatar requesting Qatari citizens to leave. Two longtime rivals battle by proxy and why this crisis will get worse.

11 July 2017: While the current US President's visit to Poland and Nationalists speech a few days ago was largely symbolic, Polish commentators didn't miss the fact that Trump mentioned the 1919/20 armed conflict led by General Pilsudski including the fact that it was due to President Wilson that Poland received its independence. The following investigation, however, will dispell the myth that instead of being negotiated with or arbitrated by the League of Nations the new Polish border, in reality, were being determined by brute force because the provisions of the Paris Peace Conference were unenforceable. Signed the same day as the main Treaty of Versailles was signed, this article will also make mention of the Polish Minority Treaty or "Little Treaty of Versailles" as it is known. Woodrow Wilson, Versailles, and the making of Eastern Europe.

26 July 2017: In context what is an almost forgotten war, China yesterday warned India it is willing to defend territory “at all costs,” and it should not harbor any “unrealistic illusions” over a border dispute that threatens to boil over into an open conflict. Will the Standoff Lead to a Second India-China War? With Update 29 Aug. 2017

9 Aug.2017: Military officials for the first time leaked information about a specific plan for a preemptive strike on North Korea.  The USA "ready to fight tonight" claim.

12 Aug. 2017: Today I arrived per intercontinental flight in Vienna where I will do archival research at Vienna's Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv. Above, to overcome jet lag (picture taken during) a walk near the Nikolaitor in Vienna. After my visit to China 10-15 Dec., I then will fly to London where I will do my final research for this year.

2 Oct. 2017: Following Christopher Clark's bestseller, The Sleepwalkers about the origins of WWI (where Clark revived the revisionist argument of the 1930's) a new discussion has ensued about who and what started the First World War of which the consequences are very much present today. A major topic, including in Clark's book which devotes a quarter of his book to Serbia which he depicts as the real cause. Having embarked on a detailed investigation, we now present a nine-part investigation with new answers that help us understand why so many historians got it wrong. The almost First World War P.1.

6 Oct. 2017: The almost First World War P.2.

10 Oct. 2017: The almost First World War P.3.

15 Oct. 2017:  Leading up the First World War P.4.

20 Oct. 2017:  Leading up to the First World War P.5.

24 Oct. 2017: How the First World War started P.6.

27 Oct. 2017: How the First World War started P.7.

30 Oct. 2017: How the First World War started P.8.

1 Nov. 2017: How the First World War started P.9.

2 Nov. 2017: Today marks the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, a 67-word letter from Britain's then foreign secretary Arthur Balfour that threw London's backing behind a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine. And while many demands that the UK government apologize for it, overlooked is the fact that the statement would not have been made without prior approval from the other Allied powers including the Vatican and a jostling with the USA. A Somewhat Hidden History of the Balfour Declaration.

8 Nov. 2017: Over the weekend, Mohammad bin Salman purged his potential rivals to impose a centralized system that can confront what is perceived as the Iranian threat. Why Tehran Is Winning the War for Control of the Middle East.

15 Nov. 2017: The following came as part of a discussion with a former student when he asked me about the Bobrinskoy Orthodox Order of Saint John (OOSJ) and the alleged "The Sovereign Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta" thus opening up what for me is a new research topic. Self-styled Knights Of Today.

19 Nov. 2017: Where the previous part described the phenomenon of self-styled Knightly orders of St John or of Malta, most of these orders claim to be continuations of various alleged offshoots of what now appears to be a non-existing Russian Orthodox priory. Case Study: Malta and the Russian Usurpation.

27 Nov. 2017: In the following historical investigation it has become clear that the original SMOM Order indeed continued unabated and that the Order's continuing sovereign status was not forfeited through the loss of Malta. The appointment of a new Grand Master.

2 Dec. 2017:  Contested as some of the following developments initially where they also contain some intrigue. The foundations of the National Associations of the Order in England and Germany.

7 Dec. 2017:  Following an earlier remark about Festing at the end of the discussion here, there is in fact a historical precedent in the form of an even more severe dispute that more significantly gave rise to a vacancy in the Grand Mastership from 1951 to 1962(which Roger Peyrefitte's famous novel wrongfully attributed to a grain deal). Vatican's opposition to the Order of Malta.

23 Dec. 2016: While there is no clear resolution in sight when it comes to settling the Israeli and Palestinian dispute, including the governments that offer the Palestinian Authority political and financial support, are loath to risk their relationship with Israel by advocating the creation of a Palestinian state, another conference is about to take place. Paris Peace Conference redux 15 Jan.2017:

25 Dec. 2016: The Syrian civil war and the Middle East going forward.