Geopolitics

When Allies Turn Adversaries: The Political, Economic, and Institutional Implications of Komeito’s Exit from the LDP Coalition

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By Professor Habib Al Badawi The dissolution of the twenty-six-year alliance between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito on October 10, 2025, marks a defining moment in contemporary Japanese politics. For over two decades, this partnership anchored Japan’s post-Cold War governance, ensuring policy continuity, maintaining legislative stability, and fusing conservative statecraft with Buddhist-backed social moderation …

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From Fox to Wolf: U.S. Hegemonic Transformation, Domestic Democracy, and Strategic Alliances in East Asia

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By: Prof. Habib Badawi & Dr. Nicholas Howard Introduction: The Paradox of Hegemonic Strength The transformation of American global leadership presents a fundamental paradox that challenges conventional wisdom about hegemonic power and its exercise. While the United States retains overwhelming material capabilities, its capacity to build and maintain international coalitions has demonstrably diminished. This study …

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Strategic Competition in an Interdependent World: Reassessing Power Transition Dynamics in US-China Relations

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By: Prof. Habib Badawi and Dr. Ali Darbaj Introduction The contemporary discourse surrounding US-China relations has been dominated by historical analogies, particularly Graham Allison’s application of the “Thucydides Trap” framework, which suggests that rising powers inevitably challenge established hegemons, often leading to conflict (Allison, 2017). However, such binary frameworks struggle to capture the unprecedented complexity …

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From Partnership to Panic: How Misinformation Distorted Japan’s Africa City Initiative (TICAD 9)

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Prof. Habib Al Badawi The Architecture of Misunderstanding The “Partner City” initiative, conceived as a cornerstone of Japan’s soft diplomatic engagement with Africa through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), represented an ambitious yet fundamentally modest vision of international cooperation. By establishing formal partnerships between four Japanese municipalities—Nagai, Kisarazu, Sanjo, and Imabari—and the …

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India Must Resist TRIPS‑Plus IP Pressures to Protect Biotech and Public Health

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The push for TRIPS‑Plus IP provisions threatens innovation and access to affordable healthcare worldwide By Nandan Trivedi India’s remarkable rise as a global pharmaceutical powerhouse is no accident—it is the result of strategic legal foresight, including a refusal to bow to overreaching global IP standards. Now, as India negotiates multiple Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with …

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The Architecture of Global Power Transformation—US-China Strategic Competition in the 21st Century

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By Habib Al Badawi Introduction: Navigating Unprecedented Power Reconfiguration The contemporary international system exists at a critical inflection point, characterized by a profound reconfiguration of global power dynamics driven by the dual forces of hegemonic persistence and strategic ascent (Gilpin, 1981). This transformation transcends simplistic models of unipolar transition, demanding a nuanced understanding of power …

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When Authority Undermines Literacy: A Case Study of Public Grammar, Political Power, and Institutional Response

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By Professor Habib Al-Badawi Abstract Purpose: This study investigates how grammatical errors in official communications from educational authorities impact their perceived legitimacy and credibility. Specifically, it examines the May 2025 case of U.S. Education Secretary McMahon’s grammatically flawed letter to Harvard University threatening federal funding withdrawal and analyzes the resulting public discourse and institutional responses. …

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Navigating the Arctic: A Geostrategic Frontier for the U.S., Japan, and Partners

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By Diksha Bharti The past decade saw the rapid conversion of the Arctic into a hitherto unknown polar region mainly renowned for its science experiments and polar journeys but today turned into an arena for increased geostrategic competition. While ice keeps melting at a shocking rate, a new geopolitical reality is unfolding, one in which …

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From Reciprocity to Retaliation: The Trump Doctrine and the Transformation of U.S. Trade Policy in a Fragmented Global Order

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Habib Badawi, Mohamed Hani, Ouahiba Louahab Introduction The return of Donald Trump to the presidency in 2024 marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of U.S. trade policy and global economic governance. Far from representing a mere continuation of his first term’s approach, Trump’s second administration has catalyzed a profound transformation in America’s engagement with the …

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Weaponizing Trade: Trump’s Tariff Tantrum and the Collapse of International Economic Order

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By Professor Habib Al-Badawi, Mohamed Hani, Ouahiba Louahab As we enter the mid-2020s, the global economic landscape bears little resemblance to the optimistic visions of liberal internationalism that dominated the immediate post-Cold War era. The promise of an integrated global economy—characterized by falling barriers to trade, harmonized regulatory frameworks, and mutual prosperity through comparative advantage—has …

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