Palestine

How civilisational politics fuels today’s wars

Academic Ma Haiyun traces the history of civilisational conflict narratives in Western strategic thinking, built on Jewish intellectual foundations, long before the rise of Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Such approaches have had a profound effect on influencing the US’s behaviour in the Middle East and spillover effects in the region.

Ma Haiyun

China just shifted gears in the Middle East

As war, rivalry and realignment grip the Middle East, China is abandoning its patient, low-risk approach. Beijing is accelerating diplomacy, security engagement and economic planning — raising both its influence and its exposure. Academic Alessandro Arduino explores the situation.

Alessandro Arduino

Israel’s ‘digital bombs’: Is everyday tech becoming a weapon of war?

Israel’s digital warfare now extends from exploding pagers to cloud servers and AI tools. As global tech giants work with Israeli intelligence, academic Ma Haiyun cautions that the lines between war and civilian life — and between devices and weapons — are vanishing.

Ma Haiyun

Netanyahu vs TikTok: How China became a scapegoat for Israel’s image crisis

Faced with growing international pressure over the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to blaming foreign powers — including China — for fuelling global criticism. But as Chinese academic Fan Hongda argues, targeting Beijing, especially over platforms like TikTok, risks further isolating Israel diplomatically and offers no real strategic gain.

Fan Hongda

Survival or extinction: The Middle East’s nuclear choice

Israel’s strike in Qatar, preceded by decades of Israeli attacks and occupation of Arab territories, shows that like it or not, lasting peace can only be achieved through a nuclear balance. Without it, conventional forces are merely symbolic, unable to prevent occupation or annihilation, says academic Ma Haiyun.

Ma Haiyun

The clash of civilisations has finally begun?

As the US abandons universal norms, civilisational powers are rising. Ma Haiyun warns this shift risks a new era of global conflict — not between nations, but between entire ways of life, where diplomacy gives way to identity and survival.

Ma Haiyun

How the Iran-Israel war exposed China’s strategic blind spot

Dangerously extreme idealism and excessive liberalism have risen across modern civilisation, greatly weakening the dignity and power of justice. Commentator Wei Da believes that the current Trump administration’s pursuit of unity between words and deeds, along with its robust support for Israel in crippling Iran’s theocratic nuclear ambitions, may well be a case of accidental accuracy — but it nonetheless stands on the right side of history and justice.

Wei Da

US tariffs: Might makes right?

Trump’s tariff obsession is counterproductive, argues former journalist Goh Choon Kang, failing to address America’s economic woes while highlighting the “might makes right” power dynamics in international trade that undermine trade agreements.

Goh Choon Kang

Chinese academic: Can the US actually take over Gaza?

US President Donald Trump provoked global shock and concern when he expressed a desire to take over Gaza and resettle displaced Palestinians elsewhere. Why did he make such a suggestion and what does he hope to accomplish by taking over Gaza? Chinese academic Fan Hongda tells us more.

Fan Hongda

Trump’s Gaza plans: A Middle East headache for China?

Amid Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza and as China navigates the shifting landscape in the region, the latter needs to balance its ambitions in the Middle East with the risks of alienating Israel, says academic Alessandro Arduino.

Alessandro Arduino

[Big read] ‘America First’ returns: How Trump will reshape the world

Trump’s “America First” policies — from tariffs and immigration restrictions to reduced global engagement — promise to reshape the world, says Lianhe Zaobao associate foreign editor Poh Hwee Hoon. Radical change is coming, for better or worse.

Poh Hwee Hoon

Is anyone winning the Middle East war?

The ongoing war in the Middle East leaves no true winners. It weakens the UN, damages America’s global reputation and threatens Israel’s future. The greatest suffering is borne by innocent Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Peter Ong discusses the situation.

Peter Ong