March, 2022

• 9 March

  Turkish public support for NATO declines

  

  As Turkey scrambles in response to events in Ukraine, anti-NATO sentiment is spreading in large segments of Turkish society. As the world’s attention is focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how to isolate Russia financially, politically and diplomatically, Turkey has taken a unique balancing path. Ankara has been …

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• 9 March

  Saudi, Emirati oil prices reach record highs

  

  The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to historically high oil prices. Oil prices across the Middle East and the world hit all-time highs again today. The price of Brent crude oil, widely considered the global benchmark for oil prices, briefly traded above $139 a barrel overnight. This was the …

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• 9 March

  Ukraine war shakes up Turkey’s ties with both Russia and NATO

  

  Ankara has adopted a dual approach on the Ukraine crisis through moves both pleasing its NATO allies and positioning Turkey as a lifeline for Russia amid crippling Western sanctions on the country. Diverging from its NATO allies, Turkey has been positioning itself as an alternative platform in the face of …

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• 9 March

  Biden bans Russian oil imports as Iran talks hit snag

  

  The embargo on Russian energy supplies comes as negotiators in Vienna appear close to striking a deal that would ease sanctions on Iran’s oil sector. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and gas imports into the United States Tuesday as his administration tightens its squeeze on Russia’s …

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• 9 March

  Israeli PM offers rare, uncertain diplomatic channel for Putin, Zelenskyy

  

  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s delegation found Russian President Vladimir Putin focused and determined, and neither delusional nor out of control. Just over 24 hours after the dramatic Moscow meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a weapons depot was bombed south of Damascus. The strike, …

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• 9 March

  The American Empire Self-Destructs, But Nobody Thought That It Would Happen This Fast

  

  Empires often follow the course of a Greek tragedy, bringing about precisely the fate that they sought to avoid. That certainly is the case with the American Empire as it dismantles itself in not-so-slow motion. The basic assumption of economic and diplomatic forecasting is that every country will act in …

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• 9 March

  Russia Destroys Vinnytsia Airport, Mariupol Surrounded

  

  As the Russian forces continue to target and bomb civilian infrastructure and non-combatants as it presses on its invasion of Ukraine, the cities of Vinnytsia and Mariupol had been the subject of Russian advances together with the city of Irpin, which had earlier been reported to be under attack from …

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• 9 March

  Tunisian president appoints members of new top judicial council

  Tunisia’s president on Monday appointed a temporary replacement for the country’s top judicial council, a body he dissolved last month in what his opponents called a move to consolidate his power. President Kais Saied seized executive authority last year and last month broke up the top supreme judicial council which …

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• 9 March

  Roiled by economic crisis, Sudan to float its currency

  Cash-stripped Sudan on Monday announced it will float the country’s currency as economic conditions deteriorate further, some four months after a military coup plunged the African nation into further turmoil. The Central Bank of Sudan said banks and exchange firms will determine the value of the Sudanese pound based on …

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• 9 March

  US official says Yemen rebels fire missile into busy Red Sea

  Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched at least one missile into the busy waters of Red Sea over the weekend, a U.S. official said Monday, raising the risk of the rebels striking one of the many commercial vessels using a waterway crucial to global shipping. The Red Sea connects onto the Suez …

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