John J. Metzler

1 week ago | bangkokpost.com | John J. Metzler

Speaking out to break the information barrier inside the North Korean dictatorship is in itself nothing new, and usually quickly forgotten. North Korean exiles, friendly governments, and humanitarian organisations periodically raise the oft-forsaken banner of human rights, only to be confronted by realpolitik through another round of North Korean missile launches or nuclear proliferation.

2 weeks ago | bangkokpost.com | John J. Metzler

With the showmanship of a Cecil B De Mille saga, President Donald Trump's state visit to three Arab kingdoms was uniquely paired with pomp and joint business incentives that focused on transforming the narrative from conflict to commerce and cooperation. The visits were set to the spectacular backdrop of casts of thousands, Arabian stallions, and camel cohorts marking the fanfare of the president's four-day trip to the region.

3 weeks ago | bangkokpost.com | John J. Metzler

What was akin to a celebration of global dictators and political rogues, Venezuela's Marxist dictator, Nicholas Maduro, visited Moscow to join Vladimir Putin in celebrating Russia's May 9 Victory Day Parade, the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany. Mr Putin's pantheon included communist China's leader Xi Jinping and Brazil's President Lula da Silva, among others.

1 month ago | bangkokpost.com | John J. Metzler

Yesterday, India launched strikes on Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, two weeks after a terrorist attack. The situation follows a long-smouldering fuse which has reignited in the wake of the terrible terrorist attack killing 27 tourists in a region of disputed Kashmir, part of India's territory. Some 25 Indian civilians were apparently targeted because of their Hindu religion.

1 month ago | bangkokpost.com | John J. Metzler

Fifty years ago, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese military units surged into Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, forcibly reuniting the country, thus ending 20 years of conflict. Scenes of North Vietnamese T-54 tanks crashing through the gates of the Doc Lap Independence Palace were among the poignant closing episodes of the Vietnam War. Soon, the massive outpouring of refugees became a searing reminder of the fast-ending conflict.