Eurasia

The two pillars of the Abraham Accords

It has been a year since the August 2020 announcement of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel. The accords were later signed at a White House ceremony attended by President Donald Trump that September. In less than a year the UAE and Israel swiftly …

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Marines Prepare to Evacuate Kabul Embassy ahead of Possible Taliban Assault

The Pentagon is preparing for a possible evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan amid fears that the Taliban may overrun the compound in the coming days. As the Islamic terrorist organization makes significant gains, capturing ten provincial capitals across the country, the State Department will reduce embassy staff …

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Israel’s Lapid in Morocco to cement diplomatic, economic ties

The two-day visit in Rabat of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is not only historic diplomatically, it also cements growing trade relations between the two countries. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived Aug. 11 in Rabat for a two-day visit. It is the first official visit by an Israeli foreign minister …

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Turkey’s defense minister discusses Afghan security in visit to Pakistan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested yesterday he may meet with Taliban leadership. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan called for “face-to-face” dialogue between Turkish officials and the Taliban over stability in Afghanistan as that country descends further into civil war. Khan said efforts would be made to establish such talks after …

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More Cheap Fun: Job Growth, Trump v. Biden

Another jobs report, another cheap shot at the former guy. As I always say, this sort of comparison is silly because so many things beyond the president’s control affect job growth and the economy. But, you know that if the situation were reversed, we would be hearing this comparison endlessly. …

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Ghost Canaries in the Amerikaner Mine

Being a radical Leftist of the communist kind has curiously inoculated me from the “brocialist” economism and intimately related class reductionism that disfigures some key parts of the American left, such as it is. It’s not just that there’s no room for downplaying the problems of racism and sexism in …

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Turkey Recalibrates Its Hard Power

Ankara believes it has reaped strategic benefits from military involvement in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Yet it has paid a price as well, discomfiting both allies and adversaries. Now, Turkey hopes to rebuild ties so as to consolidate its new gains. Since 2016, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived a …

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Siberian Fire Limits Gazprom Exports To Europe

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said on August 6 it had slowed gas shipments abroad after fire struck a processing plant in western Siberia. No one was hurt in the fire, which happened at a facility near Novy Urengoy. Russian media said transports of natural gas via Belarus and Poland …

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Russia in Review, July 30-Aug 6, 2021

This Week’s Highlights Russia is now supplying more oil to the U.S. than any other foreign producer aside from Canada, Bloomberg reported, noting that U.S. imports of crude and refined petroleum products from its former Cold War adversary surged 23% in May. U.S. imports of Russian goods increased by one …

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U.S., Russian Defense Chiefs Talk By Phone About ‘Strategic Stability’

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, have spoken by telephone about ongoing “strategic stability” talks launched last month after a recent presidential summit. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on August 11 Austin and Shoigu discussed “transparency and risk-reduction efforts following the July 28 resumption of …

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