Russia pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital Friday after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order. Explosions sounded before dawn in Kyiv as Western …
Read More »Putin’s Long Game in Ukraine
How the West Can Still Protect Kyiv Russian President Vladimir Putin appears poised to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has amassed troops near the border, spurned Western attempts at a diplomatic resolution, and most recently recognized the independence of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, with Russian …
Read More »Mister Hemedti Goes To Moscow
One would think that Russia was busy with other matters, but on February 20, 2022 – at the height of the Ukraine Crisis – the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced that the Vice Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” would travel to Moscow at the …
Read More »Live Updates: Russia Invades Ukraine, Putin Launches Large-scale Attacks
Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its …
Read More »Will Either Macron or Erdogan Back Down in the Eastern Mediterranean?
French President Emmanuel Macron has clearly decided to up the ante in a standoff with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, where France is backing Greece and Cyprus in their dispute with Ankara over natural gas reserves and maritime boundaries. First, Macron ordered a temporary reinforcement of French aerial and naval …
Read More »How Europe Maneuvered Itself Into an Energy Crisis
Four years ago, at a Track II dialogue between German and American diplomats and analysts, a German colleague of mine explained his firm belief that his country—and, by extension, Europe as a whole—could use geoeconomic tools to regulate and blunt Russia’s geopolitical ambitions. Europe’s need for natural gas, he said, …
Read More »Belarus joins Putin’s new Russian empire
If any doubts remained about Vladimir Putin’s intentions to restore at least part of the old Soviet empire, they should have been dispelled this week when Belarus announced that the estimated 30,000 Russian troops currently in the country would remain there indefinitely. The Russian forces are in Belarus ostensibly for …
Read More »China and Russia are proposing a new authoritarian playbook. MENA leaders are watching closely.
When President Donald Trump lost the 2020 US presidential election to democratic candidate Joe Biden, many leaders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) saw an ominous warning that democracy may again take center stage in US foreign policy, with autocrats trying to consolidate power in their hands.
Read More »What I heard in Munich: A lot of bold words, but little bold action
With Europe seemingly on the brink of a war, transatlantic resolve emerged as the key feature of this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC). During the last in-person MSC in 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron presented his vision of “European independence” and “strategic autonomy.” But those terms were rarely discussed this …
Read More »Russia invades Ukraine; explosions are heard in Kyiv and other cities
As diplomats at the United Nations implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back from the brink of an invasion into Ukraine, Putin announced in a nationally televised address that his country would conduct a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Explosions have been heard by NPR correspondents in the capital …
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