https://www.scmp.com/rss/508885/feed Ruairidh Brown is an assistant professor at Forward College, Paris. Over the past 10 years, he has taught international relations in France, Portugal, Scotland and mainland China. He received his PhD from the University of St Andrews in 2017. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ruairidh J. Brown Ruairidh J. Brown War drums not heard in half a century are beating across Europe. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned that Europe “must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great grandparents endured”. British and French defence chiefs have urged their respective nations to be ready to lose children in the fight against Russia. Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6 warns of a “grey zone” between war and peace, citing threats from Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3337989/europe-risks-self-fulfilling-prophecy-war-russia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3337989/europe-risks-self-fulfilling-prophecy-war-russia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:30:07 +0000 Ruairidh J. Brown Ruairidh J. Brown On November 16, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier, sailed into the Caribbean to join Operation Southern Spear – the largest US military deployment in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Donald Trump is, however, a very different president from John F. Kennedy. Whereas Kennedy endorsed the burden of American exceptionalism to “assure the survival and the success of liberty” at “any price” or “hardship”, Trump promises to prioritise “America... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333424/venezuela-trumps-real-aim-could-be-laying-claim-western-hemisphere?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333424/venezuela-trumps-real-aim-could-be-laying-claim-western-hemisphere?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 12:30:09 +0000 Ruairidh J. Brown Ruairidh J. Brown “All I’ve done all my life is deals,” US President Donald Trump told the Gaza peace summit, going on to say “maybe this is going to be the greatest deal of them all”. Trump has cultivated his image on being the greatest deal-maker, a legacy central to his identity as a business tycoon and now fundamental to his reputation as a world leader. The ceasefire in Gaza has been framed as a crowning achievement in this repertoire. “Together we’ve achieved what everyone said was impossible, but at long... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3329739/trumps-amoral-deal-making-wont-work-russia-or-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3329739/trumps-amoral-deal-making-wont-work-russia-or-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Oct 2025 12:30:10 +0000 Ruairidh J. Brown Ruairidh J. Brown Following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, China experienced a sharp drop in the number of international visitors and many foreign residents left the country. International tourism was still below pre-pandemic levels as late as 2024. When tourists did not return in large numbers after it reopened its borders in 2023, China began to take measures to reverse the trend and bring foreigners back, rolling out a unilateral 30-day visa-free entry scheme, which now encompasses 47 countries,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3313999/smiling-friendly-china-perfect-antidote-trumps-angry-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3313999/smiling-friendly-china-perfect-antidote-trumps-angry-america?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:30:07 +0000 Of the many dramatic and absurd occurrences that marked the 2024 US election campaign, one of the most confusing was Donald Trump’s praise of Chinese President Xi Jinping – his supposed arch-geopolitical rival in the new cold war. At an event in July 2023, Trump described Xi as “smart, brilliant, everything perfect” and said that there was “nobody in Hollywood like this guy”. In July last year, he said Xi wrote him a “beautiful note” after hearing of the attempt on his life. “He’s a brilliant... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3294718/could-trump-finally-call-cold-war-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3294718/could-trump-finally-call-cold-war-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2025 12:30:07 +0000 British communications regulator Ofcom recently announced that China’s state-owned news service CGTN is banned in the United Kingdom, effective immediately. The decision was justified on the legal basis that “licence holders cannot be controlled by political bodies”, but some see this as a sign that geopolitical tensions are on the rise between China and the West. The argument that China’s rise will unleash a new cold war – one between a US-led bloc of Western countries and a Chinese bloc of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3121764/how-britains-cgtn-ban-shows-western-insecurity-over-chinas-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3121764/how-britains-cgtn-ban-shows-western-insecurity-over-chinas-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Feb 2021 22:45:11 +0000