John Metzler

There was no hint of dissent in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council as its 88 members passed Article 23, a piece of draconian domestic Security legislation which “complements” Beijing’s own 2020 Security stamp on the Special Administrative Region. Instead, the local lawmakers, led by Chief Executive John Lee, proudly called their unanimous vote a “Historic Moment.”

Iran’s regime has been firmly condemned by a UN fact-finding mission investigating the unprovoked killing of Masha Amina two years ago, in a incident which set off nationwide protests.

A stormy geopolitical weather front is converging on Western Europe as the Ukrainian war in the East has entered its third year with no end in sight.

In a powerful vote of confidence for Ukraine’s sovereignty and continuing independence, both the UN Security Council and General Assembly met to show political strong support for the embattled country, two years after the 2022 Russian invasion.

Pakistan is politically on the brink again in the aftermath of fractious and inconclusive national parliamentary elections which ended with a wavering question mark hanging over this land of 241 million people like a political Damocles sword. Two former prime ministers, both of whom are bitter rivals and equally mired in alleged corruption, were vying for the top spot.

The systemic chaos which has befallen a string of countries in the Sub-Saharan Sahel region has gone largely unnoticed by most of the media, except perhaps for Boko Haram’s mass kidnappings in Nigeria.

While the world economy performed better than expected during 2023, tough times loom in the upcoming year. That’s according to the UN’s annual report “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024.”

Taiwan held free presidential elections and communist China glared.

Looking into the snow globe, it’s that time of year to predict and prognosticate what awaits this tired world in the New Year. There’s a certain trepidation in the air as we view the current and emerging crises, especially during a highly contested election year in so many key countries.

There they go again! North Korea’s reclusive communist regime ended the year with a provocative intercontinental ballistic launch, flying near Japan and splashing down in the Pacific.

Venezuela’s ruling Marxists are using some time-honored tricks to give their economically battered regime an edge for next year’s presidential elections. In a classic political mobilization tactic, President Nicolas Maduro held a “referendum” to ask his citizens what the future status should be for a mineral rich but disputed region of a neighboring country, namely Guyana.

As violence explodes throughout the Middle East, from Gaza to Yemen, and Syria to Iraq, the political fingerprints of the Islamic Republic of Iran become increasingly obvious on this regional tableaux of terror.

War clouds are swirling in the Middle East as the region steps closer to the precipice. The Second Stage of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas has now begun with all out fighting in the Gaza strip between the terrorists and the State of Israel. But beyond tiny Gaza it appears that regional destabilization now seems a certainty.

Over the past year human rights abuses in places ranging from Afghanistan to Ukraine, and to Myanmar/Burma, Xinjiang China, the Middle East, to name a few sordid cases, have splashed across the headlines.

In an extraordinary and fast paced series of events, the Islamic Republic of Iran was thrust back into the headlines.