Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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North Korea
Putin visited Pyongyang this week for a summit with Kim Jong-Un, signing a mutual aid pact and securing a vital supply of munitions for the war in Ukraine. South Korea is considering responding with their own arms deal, because apparently Koreans are some of the only people in the world who still know how to make artillery shells.
The Philippines
China and the Philippines continued their naval game of chicken around Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, in a dispute that the Filipino government could at any moment drag the US into by invoking its mutual defense treaty.
Lebanon
Israel seems ready to launch a military offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which would likely lead to a dramatic escalation in violence throughout the region, with more missile and drone exchanges with Iran and even at first glance unrelated nations caught in the crossfire.
Saudi Arabia
Over a thousand pilgrims have died from extreme heat on the hajj. And here I was worrying about political violence this year instead.
Belgium
The EU plans to impose tariffs on the import of Chinese EV's, following America's lead. Time will tell whether this saves domestic manufacturing or if we in the west will end up like the Soviets with their Ladas looking enviously across the iron curtain at all the shiny new vehicles their government wouldn't let them have.
One wonders whether this obligates Russia to come in in the event that NK invades SK in solidarity with a Chinese attack on Taiwan and the West pushes back into NK.
It seems unlikely to me that Russia would honor any such obligation, if the recent situation with Armenia is at all representative of how Putin treats such partnerships.
Was the internationally recognized territory of Armenia invaded though?
No, but what you hope for in an ally is that they'll back your side when it comes to such disputes over territory. I'm not taking a position on whether Russia should or shouldn't have gotten more involved in Nagorno-Karabakh; I'm simply pointing out that the whole episode is unlikely to inspire much confidence that Russia is a particularly useful ally to have.
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