ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The US establishment’s global trade projects are falling apart at the seams with Europeans and Asian nations seeking to establish closer ties with the BRICS bloc and to take part in the China-led New Silk Road and Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union’s initiatives, French journalist Karel Vereycken told Sputnik. Ekaterina Blinova If Hillary Clinton wins the US presidential election she will most likely try to pressure the EU into adopting Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Karel Vereycken, a French journalist and founder of the LaRouche-associated Agora Erasmus organization, noted in an interview with Sputnik. “Hillary [Clinton] and [Barack] Obama are nothing but two heads of the same animal ruling over the quasi-bankrupt financial oligopoly running the City and Wall Street. Never take election promises serious. Since Bill Clinton rammed through NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement], one can expect Hillary to go ahead with TTIP, to reward those on Wall Street

Muslims have lived in and around Thailand - and before that, Siam - for centuries. They have contributed significantly to Thailand's long history as a nation, from Malay Muslims moving up into central and even northern Thailand over the centuries, bringing their unique form of Islam with them, to Persian Muslims arriving in the 17th century and integrating themselves into business and ruling circles through trade and marriage. Today, Muslims comprise as much as 12% of the Thai population and have become part of the sociocultural and economic fabric of the nation. Their restaurants, businesses, and mosques are scattered across the country side-by-side Buddhist and secular businesses and institutions. Tolerance and mutual respect are hallmarks of this coexistence between people who identify themselves first as Thais, and second as members of their respective faiths. Contrary to popular belief, of Thailand's 7.5 million Muslims, only 1.4 million reside in the nation's southern

Perhaps the biggest challenge the US faces regarding its credibility globally is the self-inflicted damage it does to its alleged principles and values as a center of global power. A perfect example of this is unfolding in the dramatic unraveling of US-Philippine relations where any and every means of finding leverage over Washington's wayward ally is being brought to bear on Manila. The most recent manifestation of this occurred when the US blocked the shipment of US rifles destined for the Philippines' police forces. PhilStar Global's article, " Duterte cancels rifle sale blocked by US over rights concerns ," would report that: The US State Department had earlier halted the sale of about 26,000 rifles to the Philippines when US Sen. Ben Cardin said that he will oppose it due to concerns over human right violations attributed to the government's war on drugs.At face value, and ignoring any wider context, it would appear that the United States took a moral st