... strikes following conventional escalation. The former scenario proves politically less sustainable, risking Russia's designation as aggressor and consequent international isolation. The latter, while slightly reducing political costs, still permits accusations that Moscow violated the nuclear taboo first. However, apart from politics, other things are equally important. Both scenarios preserve NATO's capacity to deliver nuclear or conventional counterstrikes. Any Russian nuclear deployment risks devastating ...
... could speak boldly, posture grandly. But in the three years since, not much has changed. Despite grand declarations and strategy papers, the bloc has failed to meaningfully expand its defense capacity. At most, they might manage to recruit a few thousand mercenaries from impoverished Balkan states to send to the front.
Even this is unlikely. Any serious move toward independent military power in Western Europe will immediately trigger scrutiny from Washington. The US has no intention of allowing ...
... precisely the existence of nuclear superpowers, with which no one can compare in power. Even if another ten or more countries manage to obtain nuclear weapons, they are unlikely to be able to create such quantities as to threaten the existence of the USA or Russia, not to mention the fate of all mankind. This means that Orwell's “peace that is nopeace” will remain in the foreseeable future.
Second, since volumes comparable to Russia, the USA or, probably, China are not achievable, this does not ...
In the West’s eyes, Russia must be destroyed. That leaves us no choice
Many now speak of humanity’s drift towards World War III, imagining events similar to those of the 20th century. But war evolves. It will not begin with a June 1941 Barbarossa-style invasion or a Cuban Missile Crisis-style nuclear standoff. In fact, the new world war is already underway – it’s just that not everyone has recognized it yet.
For Russia, the pre-war period ended in 2014. For China, it was 2017. For Iran, 2023. Since...
For Moscow, the real war is global, and it’s just begun
The trademark style of the current US president, Donald Trump, is verbal spectacle. His statements – brash, contradictory, sometimes theatrical – should be monitored, but not overestimated. They are not inherently favorable or hostile to Russia. And we must remember: Trump is not the
‘king’
of America. The
‘Trump revolution’
that many anticipated at the beginning of the year appears to have given way to Trump’s own evolution – a drift...
... nevertheless part of academic discourse.
The Western Doctrine of International Law Reaction
Zakhra Khodabin:
Short Wars, Long Lessons
The western doctrine of international law reacted to what has transpired by posts of M. Milanovic (UK), M. Schmitt (USA), A.A. Haque (USA) and K. J. Keller (Netherlands).
M. Milanovic, in particular, notes that the classical understanding of self-defense as allowing only post-factum actions is outdated: states have the right to prevent imminent attacks. They are not,...
We should first temper our tendency to frame global political evolution as a contest between rival systems
We should first temper our tendency to frame global political evolution as a contest between rival systems. While this struggle remains significant – manifest in responses to inequality (domestic and global), neo-colonial exploitation, digital colonialism, Western disregard for international law, and the imposition of “might makes right” logic – we must avoid mimicking the West’s polarizing...
... the Trump administration's pervasive inner political conflicts within the United States. This was made evident with the Oman Iranian nuclear negotiations in April, from which the Europeans were
left out
of, despite their active involvement in the
Lausanne nuclear deal
in 2015, during the Barack Obama administration. As a result, the United States appears to hold most of the leverage, both peaceful and violent, and Europe will only be involved in supporting or deferring to US policies.
Europe at ...
... address several key goals, namely, to secure a stable supply chain for both cutting-edge and legacy semiconductors, to reinforce US leadership in R&D, and to boost employment, as investment in the chip industry
was expected
to generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs in microelectronics-related fields.
Biden’s programme has borne fruit. Major chipmakers have launched large-scale construction of fabs across the United States. In 2022,
Intel
started building a $28 billion facility in
Ohio
;
Samsung
...
The current balance in the Middle East is fragile and unstable
The current balance in the Middle East is fragile and unstable. It can be upset by the aggravation of contradictions between the great powers in both global and regional, Middle Eastern context, by increased friction and the emergence of conflicts between the states of the region themselves, by the emergence of crises within these states, where in some cases the domestic political situation is unstable, as well as by some completely...
