In Geopolitics Today: Monday, December 19th
Thai Navy Warship Sinks in the Gulf of Thailand, The European Union Agrees On Gas Price Cap Of €180 MWh, and other stories.
Azerbaijan Presses its Advantage in Conflict with Armenia
Traffic through the Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijani state-supported activists for almost a week, creating a potential humanitarian crisis for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and a strategic crisis for both Armenia and Iran.
Azerbaijan has denied blocking the strategic road after Yerevan accused Baku of creating a humanitarian crisis. Baku claims the protest was a spontaneous one held by environmental activists unaffiliated with Azerbaijan, while Yerevan accuses Baku of staging false demonstrations.
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Thai Navy Warship Sinks in the Gulf of Thailand
A corvette belonging to the Royal Thai Navy has sunk while it patrolling the Gulf of Thailand. The HTMS Sukhothai sank at around 00:12 a.m. local time following a loss of power and consequent flooding of the ship.
Reports say strong winds and high waves sprayed water onto the deck of the ship, knocking out its electrical system. With the power out, sailors were not able to pump water out of the ship, causing it to list and later sink. The Sukhothai is a US-built corvette in use by the Royal Thai Navy since 1987 and was on a regular patrol to assist any fishing boats needing help when the incident took place.
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The European Union Agrees On Gas Price Cap Of €180 MWh
The Energy ministers of European Union member states have approved a price cap on gas after weeks of negotiations. EU ministers made the deal on the last Energy Council of the year in Brussels, where they adopted a plan aimed at curbing energy prices.
Under the current proposal, the EU price cap would not fall below €188/MWh. The cap would move with any increases in the reference price of LNG, while remaining €35/MWh above the LNG price. The cap will be triggered when gas prices reach €180/MWh at least three consecutive trading days, to be implemented on the 1st of February while coming into force on the 15th of February.
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China’s Economic Priorities for the Year Ahead
China held its Central Economic Work Conference last week to outline the country’s economic policy for upcoming year. The Conference produced a conclusive text highlighting a focus on quality growth, national stability and defusing systemic risks as priority areas.
The meeting's readout highlighted a "proactive fiscal policy" that controlled debt risks, a "prudent monetary policy" with reasonable and sufficient liquidity, and self-reliance in science and technology policy. Beijing hopes the country can restore domestic consumption and improve its GDP. A part of this effort will involve offering a benign business environment to attract foreign direct investment.
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The Future of Restraint in US Foreign Policy
Views on which direction the foreign policy of the United States should take differ wildly, but two prominent camps involve the restraint-minded advocates of a more limited US role in the world and the intervention-minded liberal internationalists who support US primacy through global engagement and involvement.
New realities in the international arena must inform future US foreign policy if restraint is to prove more convincing than liberal internationalism. To accomplish this, Michael Brenes argues that principles of restraint must be “instrumentalized for a new US foreign policy” in a way that brings forward a tangible vision of a more multilateral world order. Proponents of restraint must remain “critical of efforts to expand US power in the short-term” as they look to build an affirmative vision of US national security that incorporates restraint.