Few ideas in global finance generate as much anxiety as de-dollarization. To some Western observers, any attempt to reduce reliance on the US dollar is automatically framed as a political challenge to American power. Yet for much of the developing world, the conversation is far less ideological and far more practical. The push to diversify global payment systems and promote the use of local currencies is not about confrontation; it is a response to economic realities that many countries have lived with for decades. The dominance of the dollar has…
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As news emerged that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer would lead a significant delegation to China, the narratives in Western media surrounding this potential visit have become both complex and divergent. Some outlets sensationalized the situation, claiming that “ignoring security threats, Starmer caves to China on mega-embassy,” while others argued that the prime minister “has to play it tough in China.” In contrast, there are voices emphasizing a pragmatic cooperation agenda, highlighting key initiatives such as the potential revival of a “golden era” business dialogue between the UK and China.…
Former US president Joe Biden joined two former US presidents – Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – in denouncing the law enforcement actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota where ICE agents shot and killed a second resident this month. “What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are…
Australia has joined a growing chorus of anger – from France, the UK and Denmark, among others – over comments by US President Donald Trump suggesting NATO allies had stayed ‘a little bit off the front lines’ during the war in Afghanistan. Trumps’s remarks before the weekend have drawn sharp rebukes from European partners and forced a partial retreat from the White House. The backlash was swift and wide-ranging, stretching from Paris to Canberra, and comes just as tensions over Greenland had begun to ease. For many US allies, the…
In his annual address to French ambassadors in January, French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized the US for “gradually turning away” from some of its allies and “breaking free from international rules,” and rejected what he described as a “new colonialism and new imperialism,” the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Macron’s remarks have put the term “new imperialism,” or “neo‑imperialism,” squarely in the international spotlight, with many observers linking it to what some describe as a series of predatory actions by the current US administration. From the forcible seizure of Venezuelan…
Across the country, community leaders gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. Some leaders took the opportunity to criticize the Trump administration. Early in the afternoon, there were no significant disruptions being reported. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates the Jan. 15 birthday of the civil rights leader on the third Monday of January. He would have been 97. King delivered his “I have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in sight of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington…
U.S. allies in Europe are banding together against President Donald Trump’s ultimatum: tax imported goods from their countries unless Denmark surrenders control of strategically important Greenland. Trump said that U.S. ownership of Greenland – an 800,000-square-mile Arctic island and Danish territory – is vital to national security. He says Denmark cannot defend its mineral-rich territory from China and Russia. On Monday, Trump criticized NATO, saying the alliance has failed to compel Denmark to comply. “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat…
There are no Chinese warships operating in Greenland and no significant Chinese investments in the region, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Washington on Wednesday, as he countered US threats to seize the Arctic island. Rasmussen, together with Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, had an hourlong meeting with US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, the first face-to-face meeting between the high-level officials as Washington’s rhetoric of taking full control Greenland has run high. “It was a great opportunity also for…
Amid global tensions involving Venezuela and Iran, there is hope that the scheduled meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in April 2026 could arrest America’s aggressive and predatory policies. A possible Trump-Xi détente could also reduce risk-taking in the Taiwan Straits, and push China to take a different position on the Ukraine war. In 2025, Trump accepted an invitation from Xi to visit Beijing in April 2026. The call, as US media reported, was initiated by Xi. This was preceded by a…
When Donald Trump pulled back on his plan to impose eye-watering tariffs on trading partners across the world, there was one key exception: China. While the rest of the world would be given a 90-day reprieve on additional duties beyond the new 10% tariffs on all U.S. trade partners, China would feel the squeeze even more. On April 9, 2025, Trump raised the tariff on Chinese goods to 125% – bringing the total U.S. tariff on some Chinese imports to 145%. The move, in Trump’s telling, was prompted by Beijing’s…