The Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan was a “black-swan” event that completely changed the geostrategic situation in Central and South Asia. It also resulted in Russia’s pragmatic ties with the Taliban coming to the forefront of global attention after its officials’ generally positive assessments of the group, which their…

It was only a matter of time before vaccine mandates and passports entered the mainstream dialogue. It started with floating out the narrative in gaining public support of the vaccinated and claiming the virus as a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The us and them divide has been created. National levels of government then took the lead in requiring…

Smoother than the transition of presidential powers in Washington, the Taliban1 entered Kabul, witj no single bullet fired, no one killed, no one injured, no one arrested. It was a war welcome by the local residents with no resistance at all.Source: Reuters The world has witnessed the peaceful entry of the Taliban into Kabul. The city is very much…

Two reasons make this week an historic one for international diplomacy: it was the first time that an Indian Prime Minister chaired a UNSC meeting that in turn resulted in this global body issuing its first joint statement on maritime security. India prioritizes maritime security because of the interests that it has in its eponymous ocean. The…

The mining of crypto-currencies requires a large amount of electricity to be carried out, making it a significant challenge with the overall electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin equivalent to the annual consumption of electricity in New Zealand and growing at the time of writing.Source: Reuters In consequence, while some governments are actively…

In its recently published mid-year Cyber Threat Report, the cybersecurity firm SonicWall reveals that the total number of ransomware attacks in the first and second quarters of 2021 has reached 304.7 million, up 151% from a year prior and already surpassing 2020’s total of 304.6 million attacks. Citing high-profile attacks on Colonial Pipeline, JBS…

Zamir Kabulov, Russian Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan, has recently expressed hope that India would participate in the Extended Troika of itself, China, Pakistan and the U.S. but clarified that New Delhi would first have to obtain influence over both sides of the conflict. According to TASS, his exact words were as follows: “India’s…

The U.S. has intensified diplomatic activities in Asia, which is a matter of concern for regional powers. The U.S. is ganging up and making alliances in this region, a direct threat to regional peace and security. To bully China, the Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman traveled to the People’s Republic of China for meetings with State Councilor…

Russia and Turkey maintain an interesting and volatile geopolitical relationship. The two states share many common interests and have significant economic ties to one another, and the leaders of both states have a good personal relationship. Despite the many areas of cooperation, there are still many areas of competition that fuel conflict from North…

On the occasion of the opening of the Meeting Russia Reunion, Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council and one of the main speakers of the Reunion, wrote an exclusive material for our participants.Dr. Andrey Kortunov is an author of over 120 publications dedicated to the analysis of Soviet/Russian-American…

Every last Sunday of July for the last 82 years Russia celebrated the Day of the Navy. Initially it was established by a Soviet People’s Commissar for the Navy Nikolay Kuznetsov – the founding father of the Blue Ocean Navy built in the USSR during the Cold War up to 1970s. However in 2021 Russian Navy celebrated its 325 year anniversary as Peter…

Subject: Advancing Technology, Nuclear Weapons Security and International StabilityVenue: Andalo (Trento, Italy)Date: 7-14 January 2022Directors of the Course: Deborah Louis (ISODARCO, Boston, USA), Francesca Giovannini (Managing the Atom, HKS, Harvard University, USA), and Steven Miller (Belfer Center, HKS, Harvard University, USA)Principal Lecturers:…