Search Results for: Ukraine

Russia and North Korea have grown closer amid the war in Ukraine, but the partnership will likely remain transactional and businesslike.

Misguided policies and inflation have drastically reduced social mobility. Political backlash will follow.

A center-left ruling team is about to replace a conservative one in Warsaw. Expect improved relations with Brussels and Berlin and shifts in many current policies.

Hounded by significant policy problems, the U.S. leader is making nice with struggling China in hopes of boosting his chances in 2024.

Moscow’s dependence on China has deepened because of its war on Ukraine while Beijing is interested in ensuring the survival of the Russian state.

Despite outwardly positive indicators, China’s economy faces some troubling dynamics, from centralized decision-making to the overextended Belt and Road Initiative.

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces operational challenges amid ongoing instability, in addition to struggling with allegations of misconduct.

As its energy footprint grows, China is intent on maintaining a diversified supply, even with Russian flows increasing.

The 31-nation alliance is shifting its doctrine from a reactive stance to preemptive defense, prompted by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The upcoming commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Genocide should force the world to ask: ‘Why again?’

The economic and political dysfunction that has plagued Zimbabwe for years is unlikely to lift anytime soon, leading to increased emigration and a drift toward Russia and China.

Free societies can thrive by rediscovering and acting on their strengths. Values, including those of personal responsibility, must be at the core of a revival.

A truly multipolar world would dilute the importance of China and the United States, but the two superpower rivals are not going to cede influence easily.

Seeking the supposed peace dividend after the Cold War, the Swiss dismantled critical parts of their unique national defense system. Restoring it is proving difficult.

Iran has demonstrated grit and determination in mastering nuclear technology. The time it would now need to build atomic weapons may be too short for the West’s comfort.

How one attack revealed the strengths, weaknesses and massive losses on both sides. Only incremental advances by Ukraine are likely through the winter.

Ghana, one of Africa’s most democratic and fastest-growing states, has been backsliding into turmoil caused by its external debt and the rising costs of living.

The next president will have to navigate China’s growing importance to Indonesia’s economy with Beijing’s growing assertiveness in Southeast Asia.

Today’s irresponsible economic policies are repeating historical mistakes, risking catastrophic consequences similar to those experienced in the past.

While Tehran has made diplomatic inroads to ease isolation from the West, domestic troubles will not go away for the mullahs in charge.

The crypto-backed biometric identity network promises to upend finance, governance and democracy itself. Is Worldcoin a magic bullet, tool for despotism or pipe dream?

The hitherto booming Israeli defense sector is facing geopolitical strife, supply scarcities and shifting internal demographics.

The rise and fall of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin offers intriguing insight into the dangerous state of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

These two issues radically divide the American polity. Federal energy policies can be upended after elections, but the states provide some continuity.

Energy needs and historical ties have pulled France toward Algeria. Meanwhile, relations with Morocco have grown strained, but this might change.

The intensity of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia will likely remain strong for at least another year, but worrisome problems need to be solved.

Nations have sadly not renounced invasions or armed conflicts, requiring peace-seeking countries to strengthen alliances in hopes of preventing such violence.

The war on inflation is unlikely to trigger a global recession, but one could still take place because of other problems in the international economy.

The Biden administration’s attempts to engage Iran have encouraged Israel’s enemies and could soon force the United States to make dreadful choices.

Israeli leaders grew complacent about security near Gaza, were distracted by internal issues and underestimated Hamas’s violent ideology.

The Kremlin’s move may be more saber-rattling, but it also heightens the security concerns of NATO members.

A Slovakian election could tilt its foreign policy toward Russia, like Hungary, leaving the Czech Republic as the only firm Ukraine ally among four small nations that include Austria.

Poland’s October 15 elections may give a boost to the regional development idea that has so far not lived up to its promise.

The pro-Russian populist party of ex-prime minister Robert Fico is leading polls in the run-up to a snap parliamentary election. His victory would be welcome in the Kremlin.

The Kremlin’s war on Ukraine has weakened Russia’s standing as a global arms exporter, with a market share that will likely continue to shrink.

While India needs to maintain good relations with Myanmar to achieve several strategic objectives, the ties between the two countries have been clouded by regional challenges.

The war in Ukraine has exposed the moral divide between the West and Russia. The Kremlin believes in spheres of influence backed by military power. The West has no hope of success unless it steels itself for the hard realities ahead.

Since the EU has framed the conflict in Donbas in moral terms that do not allow it to admit failure, it must maintain the pretense of success – giving Russia and Ukraine ample leeway to play their own games of deception. Yet the costs of this false equilibrium – to the EU, Russia, and Ukraine itself – are too large to be sustained indefinitely.

While Georgian society wants to be closer to Europe and regain its lost territories, pro-Russian leaders are positioning the Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people as a Kremlin ally.

Russia has developed a complex network of influence in Libya through the Wagner group and will likely keep using private military actors to maintain its leverage.

Deterring Russian aggression and guaranteeing Ukrainian security will require either NATO membership or a long-term, Western-backed military buildup for Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired the nation’s top two law enforcers, triggering the latest scandal over Ukraine’s corruption and weak governance.

Whatever the outcome of the war in Ukraine, eventually the West, and especially Europe, will have to learn to live with Russia, finding a path forward based on mutual respect.

The EU must show unity with Poland and Hungary as Russia’s war rages.

Following economic downturns caused by Covid-19, the war in Ukraine is threatening to push the region into recession, challenging the skills and wisdom of politicians.

As Ukraine’s forces battle Russia, Kyiv’s political leaders need to battle corruption. One place to start is by creating a fair, simple and transparent tax system.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline threatens to circumvent Ukraine, which has offered lowered gas transit rates to Gazprom if it scraps the project and allows other exporters to pass through the country. Russia is uninterested in such a deal, but rising forecasts of European gas demand mean that the Kremlin must continue to rely on Ukraine.

The essence of Russia’s escalation doctrine is seeking military victory by blackmailing opponents with the rising costs of the conflict – to the point of breaking the psychological and material endurance of the other party.

How far the U.S. is prepared to go to uphold global norms in Ukraine will be telling for the Taiwan issue, especially with China playing an increasingly key role in the West’s standoff with Russia.

With Russian troops at the Ukrainian border, NATO appears to have regrouped, but several challenges lie ahead before a solution can be found. Most importantly, Kyiv should be an active player in further negotiations.