... confident in their own power and resilience.
It is still possible to maintain a limited military presence near and far, as Recep Tayyip Erdogan does in Syria and Libya. But repeating the experience of the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions wounded, is now a no-go: Middle Eastern societies have changed too much over the past 40 years, and the region has advanced too far down the path of postmodernity. It is hardly a coincidence that the strongest proponents of ...
... resolve security issues involve using force or the threat of its use. Past economic ties have not held back political contradictions. Apparently, we are only at the beginning of an exacerbation. After all, the real fight between the two key rivals—the USA and China—is yet to come. One can argue for a long time about what is the root cause of the increase in deterrence—mistakes of diplomats or objective factors giving rise to rivalry. The result is what’s important. The three largest military-political ...
Has the situation on the Korean Peninsula become more dangerous, and how should Russia proceed given these circumstances?
Throughout 2024, the two Korean states have fundamentally changed their positions on Korean unification and their relations with each other. A new situation has emerged on the Korean Peninsula that affects the interests of major geopolitical players, including Russia. Formulating relevant approaches is also critical in view of Moscow’s unprecedented reinvigoration of its Korean...
Damascus and Ankara sharing more and more interests
The leaders of Syria and Turkey have recently made frequent public declarations of their readiness to start the process of normalizing bilateral relations soon, with Russia as a mediator. Syrian President Bashar Assad, while receiving Russian President's Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev on June 26, 2024, acknowledged that he viewed the reconciliation positively. In turn, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
suggested
in his address...
... of crossbows as an excessively violent weapon to use against Christians and especially Catholics. Crossbows were eventually banned, but with the understanding that they could be used against the Saracens. After all, following the successful First Crusade of 1096–1099, skirmishes with Muslims continued in Palestine and plans for a second crusade were under discussion.
[1]
This is how the first known arms control agreement came about. However, the Saracen proviso received a “broad interpretation,...
Kiev’s leadership isn’t acting in the interests of its own people; instead, it serves Washington’s agenda and those of its closest allies
Ukraine is not a sovereign state. Russia is dealing with an entity that isn’t acting in its own interests, and one operating directly on its borders at that. Therefore, interaction with such a territory – including formal negotiations – would be outside the usual customs governing relations between normal countries.
International politics – even war – is always...
Soviet influence in the Middle East was ultimately useless, and now it seems Washington is heading down the same path
The confrontation between Iran and Israel has been going on for several weeks now. However, none of the parties directly – or, indeed, indirectly – involved in Middle East politics are keen to see events there escalate into a larger military conflict.
In other words, the situation in this important region is slowly trying to find a kind of internal balance. This is similar to everywhere...
The price of US security guarantees in the event of a direct conflict, for example, with Russia, is quite small
Everyone, in fact, understands that the price of US security guarantees in the event of a direct conflict, for example, with Russia, is quite small. But the American “security umbrella” for Europe concerns, first of all, European political elites, for whom participation in NATO guarantees that they will never again have to worry that their managerial failures leading to revolutionary...
... America. The potential and use of American “soft power” will long be the envy of allies and adversaries of the United States, whether it concerns movie productions from Hollywood or the research programs of American universities. The position of the USA in international institutions (especially when it comes to their bureaucracy, which represents a kind of global Deep State) is now largely much stronger than that of any other country in the world.
Nevertheless, a return to the former US hegemony ...
The figure of the U.S. president is unlikely to play a big role in Russian-American relations
The approaching US presidential election is once again giving rise to discussions about who is best for Russia. Once again, there is a temptation to view Republican candidate Donald Trump as a more acceptable politician for Moscow. Trump says he hasn’t ruled out a “deal” with Russia. His thinking is transactional. He stands for promoting the national interests of his country, but in words he is ready for...
