Russia

Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global markets with a three-day surge of tariff announcements, border security negotiations and ultimately a 30-day...

The Biden administration’s parting gift to Russia: Still more sanctions

Clearly working overtime to underscore the Biden administration’s desire to inflict maximum economic pain on Moscow and its coterie of Ukraine invasion supporters outside...

Stringent new energy sector sanctions on Russia announced

On January 10, the U.S. Government released a massive new listing of over 200 entities and individuals involved in Russia’s energy sector for Ukraine-related...

Biden administration takes final steps to counter global corruption and human rights abuses

Announcing a global grab-bag of new sanctions, possibly some of its last, the Biden administration took major steps on December 9 by authorizing new...

Georgia’s political confrontation continues at low boil

It is difficult to find anyone other than current government officials from the “Georgian Dream” party that will claim the country’s October 26 Parliamentary...

U.S. sanctions Russian banks, finance officials and securities registrars

The U.S. announced on November 21 new sanctions targeting Russia’s largest remaining non-designated bank (Gazprombank), as well as dozens of other financial institutions and...

Maia Sandu’s slim win: Moldova struggles between Europe and tradition

The results of Moldova’s recent presidential elections and referendum are final. President Maia Sandu won a re-election bid, while a referendum to cement the...

Allies condemn the DPRK’s deployment of troops to Russia

The G7 countries, the EU as well as Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand on November 6 expressed "grave concern" over the deployment of...

Georgia’s democratic election dream becomes a screamer

Georgia’s October 26 Parliamentary elections did not hold up as “free and fair” even under the lightest of scrutiny. Despite the presence of a...

IMF pronounces victory over inflation while sounding debt and tariff warnings

The 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) took place in Washington D.C. from October 21...

The complex politics of Caspian gas

For the countries bordering the Caspian Sea, gas has always been a major economic resource and, in most cases, one of the biggest contributors...

Supplying Russia and Iran, Armenia emerges as a new sanctions black hole

For the past two years, Armenia has been attempting to demonstrate its shift towards the West, all the while maintaining its geopolitical role as...

G7 Foreign Ministers condemn Tehran’s export and Russia’s procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized powers condemned on September 14 "in the strongest terms" Iran's sales and Russia's purchases...

Romania talks bring green power line deal for Caspian Sea – EU energy

At a meeting in Bucharest, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary reached milestone agreements on the establishment of a Green Energy Corridor, aiming at bringing...

Washington hits back at Russia’s covert influence activities aimed at 2024 U.S. elections

In a wide series of actions on September 4, the Biden administration froze Kremlin-run websites and charged two Russian state media employees in its...

The European Legion’s Activities in Libya

NATO seems to be seeking to intervene in Libya’s internal affairs and impose its control over the Libyan people’s oil and gas capabilities using...

Hungary, Slovakia sweetheart deal with Brussels keeps the Russian oil flowing through Ukraine

The energy crisis that has been caused by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine continued after Kyiv imposed in late June of this year a...

Russia failing to replace lucrative European gas deliveries with sales to China

Russia’s attempts to build the Power of Siberia 2 (PS-2) natural gas pipeline to China appear to be stalling despite repeated statements from Moscow...

Jeffrey Sachs: three times a traitor

An economist with an international reputation, Professor Jeffrey Sachs has increasingly raised his profile in the world media. A U.S. citizen, he accuses his...

Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the U.S. condemn DPRK-Russia Cooperation

During his June 19-20 visit to Pyongyang, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty...

G7 Summit focuses on Ukraine support and shattering Russia’s wartime economy

Despite last week’s expert punditry (itself almost indistinguishable from AI) on the latest G7 decisions as exhibited by the “instant experts” on global issues...

Berlin Ukraine Recovery Conference

Although partially overshadowed by urgent Ukrainian requests for emergency help with its immediate air defense needs, as well as political shockwaves emanating from the...

Xi challenges a divided Europe

After the May 5-9 visit of President Xi Jinping to Europe most of the political analysts in Brussels who argued that the Chinese President's...

Tackling new threats to critical energy infrastructure

The explosions that targeted the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany in September 2022 and the suspected sabotage of Baltic-connector pipeline, which supplies...

EU-Armenia-U.S. High-level Meeting: A Critical Moment for the South Caucasus

On April 5, an EU-Armenia-U.S. trilateral meeting was held between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and U.S....

The influence of Russia’s nuclear industry steadily expanding in Turkey

Turkey's decision last month that Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom will build the country’s second nuclear power plant, most likely at a site...

U.S. joins International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children

On March 7, the office of the spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State issued a media note, clearly meant to be circulated in...

Eyeing competitors, OPEC+ countries will keep cutting oil production

Several OPEC+ countries are extending additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day, aimed at supporting what they are labeling "the stability and...

Russia sanctions remain a powerful tool to support Ukraine’s defense

Western leaders should not dismiss the two-year long sanctions campaign (as opposed to the 2014 Crimea sanctions) as unsuccessful simply because the Kremlin has...

New U.S. Russia sanctions widen scope, adding 500 new targets

The U.S. State Department released a comprehensive list of new sanctions measures on February 23, clearly the culmination of months of preparation in order...

Moldova’s 2024 elections: Why it matters

Since the war in Ukraine commenced, the neighboring Republic of Moldova, led by President Maia Sandu, has strongly supported Kyiv. As the tiny, landlocked...

Bulgaria, Romania push regional renewable energy projects

Bulgaria is working with its neighbors to boost energy security and collaborate on joint cross-border projects in natural gas and renewables, according to Bulgaria’s...

Kremlin disinformation efforts in Africa illuminated

The U.S. State Department released a report detailing Kremlin disinformation activities and operatives in Africa on February 12 entitled “The Kremlin’s Efforts to Spread...

Ukraine’s persecuted mayor

Lest it be forgotten, the major thematic issue in post-Maidan and pre-war Ukraine was, and continues to be, the transformation of Ukrainian society along...

Russia’s powerful economic levers over Armenia

Armenia's relations with its strategic partner Russia are getting worse and worse and its leaders seem to desire a shift in geopolitical orientation towards the West....

Meeting conditions for Georgia’s EU accession is a tall order for Tbilisi

The European Commission’s provisional endorsement of Georgia’s EU chances contained a not-so-subtle message couched in diplomatic jargon: Tbilisi must forge a stronger national consensus...

New US actions against corruption and Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans

On November 16, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known by its acronym OFAC, designated eight individuals and six...

On confronting evil in the modern world

Now is an appropriate time to morally clarify the underlying narrative of what is happening in Israel and Ukraine. Survivors of the last century’s greatest...

It takes time to defeat a dictatorship

Whether it is acknowledged or not, Ukraine and the West are in the process of learning a very hard but essential lesson about the...

Breaking Europe’s hold on football

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar brought together nations from around the world, and 1.5 billion people tuned in to watch the final. But...

With Armenia defeated tensions between Yerevan and Russia reach a turning point

Relations between Armenia and its traditional strategic partner Russia are deteriorating fast. With Yerevan's fundamental defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh - the 30-year-old Moscow-backed separatist region...

Prigozhin’s inglorious rebellion

Images of camouflaged gunmen seizing government buildings in a post-Soviet city were eerily reminiscent of what the world witnessed in the spring of 2014...

Conflict, migration, and demography in Russia and its border regions

Despite the absence of a clear definition of “ethnic group,” the term generally refers to people with a common history, culture, and ancestry. Russians...

Working against Ukraine’s own interests

As the Ukrainian counter-offensive begins, maintaining American support is absolutely vital to Kyiv’s success. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have proven their courage, but even...

A post-Berlusconi Italy could find itself at an era-defining political turning point

A new era began in Italy on June 12 when Silvio Berlusconi, the polarizing and towering political figure who dominated Italian politics for nearly...

Ukraine’s ‘Doolittle Raid’

Ukraine has proven that a numerically superior combatant can be defeated when confronted with superior tactics and a better-trained, motivated, and equipped opponent.

Washington issues reward offer for Russian ransomware actor

On May 16, the State Department announced a reward offer, under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, of up to $10 million, for information...

When it comes to defense, the politicians must listen to those who know best – the generals

The halls of power are walked by people who know little, care even less and yet have the right to supersede and ignore the advice of those who know better.

Georgia has shown the world that a Kremlin project can be defeated

In early March, the world’s attention was on Georgia. We saw massive protests fueled by anger, concerns and fear, and eventually, we witnessed a...

Putin’s New START withdrawal has broad implications

Vladimir Putin continues to persuade Russians that the West provoked his imperialist war of aggression against Ukraine. His announcement that he would no longer...

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