... The Americans alleged that Saddam had laundered funds from illegal oil sales through this bank, and it also
held
the accounts of those who financed al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. The decision was made in accordance with Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, passed in the wake of September 11, 2001.
But this package of sanctions was generally not too frightful for the regime stability either. Syria had extensive regional and international ties as well as plenty of tools and opportunities ...
..., this required the appearance of formal signs of justice in the form of international law as well as participation in the highest body of the UN, the Security Council (UNSC), of Russia and China, which are immanently hostile to the interests of the USA and Europe.
The institutional form of Western dominance by force has become its final incarnation, and now the main question is whether it is possible to preserve the form following the inevitable disappearance of its content and main function. Therefore,...
Russia amid the current conditions has no choice but to radically restructure the mechanisms of its financial and trade relations with foreign countries
The deep political crisis in relations that emerged between Russia and the West after February 2022 has led to large-scale changes in the application of economic sanctions. There was a significant increase in the speed, concentration and scope at which sanctions could be applied to one country.
At first glance, the policy of sanctions is a narrow...
On October 19–20, 2022, the Geneva Center for Politics and Security (GCSP), Russian PIR Center, and U.S. Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey (CNS/MIIS) hosted the international conference "Sixty Years of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Lessons for the 21st Century"
On October 19–20, 2022, the Geneva Center for Politics and Security (GCSP), Russian PIR Center, and U.S. Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey (CNS/MIIS) hosted the international conference "Sixty Years...
On October 18, 2022, a regular online international expert dialog on Russia-NATO relations was held, bringing together experts, former diplomats and military, public leaders from Russia, the USA, and European NATO member-states
On October 18, 2022, a regular online international expert dialog on Russia-NATO relations was held, bringing together experts, former diplomats and military, public leaders from Russia, the USA, and European NATO ...
... fragmentation, with various interest groups covering for themselves without taking into account the interests of all participants. The organisation worked exactly as long as its decisions brought benefits primarily to the developed countries like the USA and Europe. Similar stories can be told about almost any of the multilateral institutions, where the membership of the “older” states of the “golden billion” is combined with the rest of the world. Suffice it to recall that already in 2018,...
On Middle Eastern states’ pragmatic approach and neutrality
Today’s world, with its current architecture of international relations, has entered a new phase of transformation, one that will take years. As a rule, such developments transpire through an overhaul of the old system with a new one being established instead, which is typically a painful process. The Middle East, being largely a litmus test of changes in the world, entered the transformation stage some 10 years ago, anticipating global...
For both sides, the stakes in the current crisis are higher than they were 60 years ago
Today, it’s come to be trendy to draw parallels between the current state of U.S.-Russian relations and the famous Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. All the more so, because we are on the cusp of the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Crisis: the decision taken by the John F. Kennedy administration to impose a blockade on Cuba was made at the White House in the evening of October 20, having triggered the acute phase...
The Russian president’s most recent address proclaimed an updated vision for the country
During his four terms at the helm of the Russian state, Vladimir Putin has made many landmark speeches. Several of them stand out as pivotal points in Moscow’s evolving foreign policy course.
Back in October 2001, addressing Berlin's Bundestag in German, Putin proclaimed Russia’s
“European choice”.
In February 2007, speaking at the Munich security conference, he lashed out at America’s global hegemony and laid...
Summary of talking points
There are quite a few things in common, as well as differences between the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 and the present crisis between Russia and the West.
Aleksey Arbatov:
The Ukrainian Crisis and Strategic Stability
Now it is a crisis engineered by the US at Russia’s doorstep with Moscow holding the advantage of the scene close to its territory. So, now is Russia’s turn to go emotional/ballistic. It is more than a purely military threat (US biolabs in Ukraine...
