Belt and Road | Al Majalla

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) hugs Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at a signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 5, 2025.

Beijing visit sees Pakistan recommit to its China alliance

The two states are deeply engaged in developing a trade route that would help China avoid a naval blockade. Now they are looking to move beyond trade

Kaswar Klasra 10, Feb 2025

A handout photo made available by the press service of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) welcomes Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) during their meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 15 July 2021. Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi arrived to Tashkent to attend the two-day International Conference 'Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities'. (EPA/RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT)

A Deepening Alliance of Convenience

Russia-China military cooperation continues to deepen. On August 9th the two sides kicked off five-day-long joint military exercises in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The exercise includes…

Maia Otarashvili 13, Aug 2021

US America and China flags on chess king on a chessboard. (Getty)

Competition Can Be Good for the Developing World

The United States and China are locked in a contest for influence over the rest of the world. The new great-power competition looks in this sense very much like the one that took place during the…

Branko Milanovic 05, Jun 2021

China Pivots to Middle East as Trump Downsizes US Role

As President Donald Trump eyes the exit in the Middle East, his critics have excoriated him for abdicating a strong U.S. role in the region and clearing a path for Russia’s dominance. Yet in their…

Alice Su and Nabih Bulos 19, Dec 2019

The Silk Road Trap: How China’s Trade Ambitions Challenge Europe

Holslag claims that China poses a mortal economic threat to Europe and the West. The topic is timely, since the EUis currently considering following…

Andrew Moravcsik 31, Oct 2019

Wang Yilin, Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation, speaks during the Belt And Road CEO Conference as part of the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) at China National Convention Center on April 25, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Getty)

Demystifying Belt and Road

InMay 2017,Beijinghosted the first Belt andRoad Forumfor International Cooperation. The summit, which gathered representatives of more than 100 countries, had been organized to promote Chinese…

Yuen Yuen Ang 31, May 2019

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an enormous international investment project touted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, was supposed to establish Chinese soft power. Since late 2013, Beijing has…

Christopher Balding 26, Oct 2018

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A Palestinian activist holding a national flag stands by as an Israeli army bulldozer moves during an ongoing raid on the Tulkarm camp for Palestinian refugees in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Zain JAAFAR / AFP

Politics

West Bank Palestinians suffer largest forced displacement in decades

05 March 2025

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been pushed out of refugee camps in the northern West Bank as Israeli settlers grab more and more land

Ahmed Draghmeh

Palestinian director Basel Adra (L) and Israeli director Yuval Abraham pose during a photo session in Paris on October 29, 2024.

STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

Culture & Social Affairs

Oscar winner ‘No Other Land’ fails to highlight the root issue

06 March 2025

The documentary about Israel's crimes in the West Bank deserves praise, yet the discourse around the film remains far removed from the heart of the issue: the illegal and immoral military occupation

Samer Abou Hawwach

Palestinians gather for a communal iftar, or fast-breaking meal, on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid building rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 1, 2025.

AFP

Politics

Competing visions for a post-war Gaza

03 March 2025

The cyclical nature of the conflict and Israel's occupation continue to shape regional and international outlooks

Ahmed Maher

Palestinians' suffering worsens amid continued food shortages in Gaza Strip.

Reuters

Business & Economy

Food insecurity: A chronic dilemma that worsens in Ramadan

05 March 2025

Conflict, drought, tariffs, and inflation are making it harder to feed people in the Arab world. Yet if the wars in Ukraine and Sudan end with investment in agriculture, the clouds may brighten.

Marcelle Nasr

Matthew Zweig, one of the architects of the Caesar Act

Politics

Caesar act architect: Lifting Syria sanctions is "complicated"

02 March 2025

The US levied swingeing sanctions on Bashar al-Assad's regime for torturing and killing thousands. Matt Zweig, who helped draft it, speaks to Al Majalla about its details and future.

Ibrahim Hamidi

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LATEST ISSUE

Beijing visit sees Pakistan recommit to its China alliance

A Deepening Alliance of Convenience

Competition Can Be Good for the Developing World

China Pivots to Middle East as Trump Downsizes US Role

The Silk Road Trap: How China’s Trade Ambitions Challenge Europe

Demystifying Belt and Road

A Blow to China’s Soft Power

West Bank Palestinians suffer largest forced displacement in decades

Oscar winner ‘No Other Land’ fails to highlight the root issue

Competing visions for a post-war Gaza

Food insecurity: A chronic dilemma that worsens in Ramadan

Caesar act architect: Lifting Syria sanctions is "complicated"

OPINIONS

What Canada joining the US might look like

Europe defence spending, Ukraine support top agenda in Brussels

Israeli war drums drown out talk of Gaza reconstruction

Rwanda’s attack on Congo could plunge Africa into war

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