The Learners' Den

US President Donald Trump whispering in China's Xi Jinpin ear In this new age of ambiguous strategic rivalry in geopolitics among Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, etc., I thought the United States, under President Trump’s second term, would seek strategic relationships based on mutual interest and respect. I thought the alarming bell he had been ringing at his campaign trails about why he must take on China to contain its rapid economic and military growth and its increasing dominance in the South China Sea was serious from the first day in office. I thought he would build win-win bridges across the world to facilitate mutual partnerships and access for Africa, Asia, and Europe to US markets, and vice versa. Instead, Bibi Netanyahu lured him into a war with Iran: he also threatened to buy Greenland forcefully; again, slapped a swath of trade tariffs on foreign countries; and later deodorized this strategic blunder with sanctions and extreme regulations for foreigners. It's ...

A few hours ago, BBC Hausa reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would soon open shops specifically selling alcohol to diplomatic envoys in the country. The report was received with mixed emotions from Muslims in Nigeria; some laughed at it, others startled and outraged. But the latter group reacted the most. I know that the revelation rang unbelievably in their heads, looking at alcohol’s prohibition in Islam. Well, it's understandable to be shocked by such a report, particularly if you are not in touch with the country’s ongoing radical economic and social reforms under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS), the incumbent de facto ruler and heir apparent to the kingdom.  Nevertheless, for me, I wasn't startled by the report. It's no longer a secret that we are in an unprecedented period of ambiguous geopolitical rivalry between the most powerful and rapidly growing countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, India, and Russia. This means that Saudi Ara...

The BRICS Summit banner in Johannesburg, SA (📸Aljazeera) In addition to what happened in Russia yesterday, the ongoing BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, is another interesting topic that attracted divergent opinions from experts and international relations enthusiasts on the challenges and potential of emerging economies such as China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The summit has divided opinions between those who believe that there is an emerging new world order on the rise, and others who believe it's too early to make such a bold assertion. The more than a decade-old bloc has recently attracted the attention of other emerging economies in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. On the face of it, the bloc can tremendously play a big part in high-ranking decision-making bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations (UN), etc. However, when the coalition continues to be...