This year, 2024, may mark a significant shift in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and China. The February 2022 shock of China’s support for Russia against Ukraine was compounded by the potentially even greater shock of China’s stance on Israel and its support for Iran in the Middle East. This has created a […]
A decade after the Syrian Jasmine Revolution’s unsuccessful struggle against Assad, the same revolutionaries defeated him in a week. What made the difference? Previously, Russian and Iranian military support propped up the regime. Now, those old allies are preoccupied elsewhere, depleted of their forces, and unable to provide the blood transfusions that once kept the […]
We seem to be facing a new style of hybrid military escalation. In February 2022, China believed Russia would easily win over Ukraine and cautiously supported it, thereby widening its rift with the US and creating a new fracture with the European Union. However, Russia failed to deliver, and the war remains unresolved. In 2023, […]
Russian culture and history has long embraced a hybrid self-image: a western and an eastern, orientations sometimes compatible but more often in conflict. Geographically too, it is one-third in Europe, two-thirds in Asia. In 1703 Peter the Great built St. Petersburg (named for the apostle, later for the tsar), a city on the Baltic Sea […]
On the eve of a momentous and very divisive US elections, Europe and all the American allies and friends are awaiting the results with immense uncertainty. It is the first time since WWII that there has been a significant difference between the two candidates in foreign politics, and it’s unclear how this will be resolved. […]
A few thousand votes in perhaps a dozen counties scattered across three or four states will determine the election of the next president of the United States. This choice holds significant implications for the destiny of 8 billion people worldwide due to the anticipated policy shifts between the two candidates. One, Kamala Harris, aims to […]
Is peace in Ukraine possible soon? The American elections are pivotal, of course. If Donald Trump wins, he has said he’ll achieve peace quickly. However, even if Kamala Harris is elected (as recent polls suggest is more likely), Russian President Vladimir Putin may seek a compromise, facing the prospect of four more years of fighting […]
