The United States and its allies are concerned about the informal but strong strategic alliance that has taken shape in recent years between China and Russia and which has become more evident after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, Beijing has provided staunch diplomatic and economic support to Moscow but stopped short […]
Russia and the West after Navalny
The death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most influential opponent, is deepening the chasm between Russia and the West, with unfathomable consequences for the future. The penitentiary administration states that he died of natural causes. At the same time, his family and friends claim he was deliberately killed, possibly due to Putin’s sudden change […]
North Korea bombards tension and helps Russia
The extended Russian fighting in Ukraine is causing global geopolitical tremors across Eurasia. Seventy years ago, the war in Korea heightened tensions and the threat of war in Europe; now, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are heightening worries and risks in Asia. On Friday, North Korea fired over 200 rounds of artillery that fell […]
Putin’s broader war and his survival calculus
By September, it was clear that while the much-expected Ukrainian offensive didn’t create a breakthrough, neither did the ensuing Russian counteroffensive. Neither side has a decisive advantage over the other. Lawrence Freedman argued[1] convincingly that we must think about the definition of victory for Ukraine, as Kyiv is not set on marching on Moscow. The […]
China’s Tightrope with Russia and Israel
China’s present troubles with the US might be rooted in a misperception of what should have been done in the past. What did China do when America struggled in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004-2005? Rather than helping it in these difficulties, Beijing kept aloof politically and slowed down the economic and political reforms it had […]
War and Peace with Ukrainian Characteristics
Few in Washington seem overly worried about the apparent stalemate in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces can’t break through Russia’s fortified defenses. Meanwhile, America is entirely concentrated on the latest from China – complex malware reportedly able to cripple US cyber systems. According to The New York Times, which broke the story: “The discovery of the malware has […]
DeTrumping America?
Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s call on his supporters to rise in protest against his reportedly impending indictment breaks the first principle in a democratic state: trust in its institutions. A trial can be right or wrong in thousands of ways, but it’s a different ballgame if you don’t accept it. In this way, he says […]