Applying Lederach’s Conflict Transformation to the Israel-Palestine Issue
John Paul Lederach’s concept of conflict transformation provides a set of lenses through which one can draw attention to specific aspects of a conflict, and bring the overall meaning of a conflict into sharper focus.
Asra Zahid applies the model to the Israel-Palestine situation, with each of the three points of inquiry of the model bringing a specific aspect of conflict into focus.
Understanding the Regional Security Complex Theory in South Asia
The regional security complex theory (RSCT) is primarily based on the notion of security dynamics and regional models. According to Barry Buzan and Ole Waver, most threats travel more easily over short distances than over long ones, and security interdependence is normally patterned into regionally based clusters.
Asra Zahid analyzes South Asia through the lens of the regional security complex theory at four levels: local, regional, interregional, and global.
Will the Growing China-New Zealand Relations Sideline the US?
Some believe that PM Jacinda Ardern’s visit to the US indicates the inclination of New Zealand towards the US instead of China.
However financial interests between China and New Zealand indicate otherwise.
Since signing the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement in 2008, China has become New Zealand’s top financial collaborator, with goods and services exports reaching a whopping $21.5 billion in 2021.
How Taiwan Is Hampering China-Australia Relations
Since the 1980s, the People’s Republic of China and Australia have maintained strong economic ties regardless of their political dynamics. Asra Zahid examines the history of diplomatic relations between Australia and China and how they’ve transformed. In recent years, Australia’s ties with Taiwan and its alliance with the US have led Beijing to question Canberra’s commitment to its one China policy.
President Xi Jinping of China: The Pandemic, Growing Military Power & the Chinese Dream
With the removal of the limit on the term of the Chinese presidency in 2018, President Xi Jinping has consolidated more power. The reform has allowed him to remain in power for as long as he likes unlike the old traditions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). President Xi Jinping of China is highly praised by the CCP for his visionary economic, social, and foreign policy. The CCP has given him a status equivalent to that of revolutionary personalities like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Asra Zahid notes that from effectively countering the COVID-19 pandemic, and strengthening China’s economic and military power to reviving the “Chinese Dream,” China has come a long way under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping.