... allies and partners do not prevent Washington from adding individuals and companies from their jurisdictions to US sanctions lists. For example, since February 2022, the US has applied secondary financial sanctions for ties to Russia against nearly a thousand companies in a wide variety of jurisdictions, from EU countries to post-Soviet states. The largest number of these companies are located in China, the UAE, Turkey, and India. In all cases, secondary sanctions have not caused any noticeable diplomatic ...
Apparently, the most rational course of action for the United States may be a "hit and see" approach
The concentration of US military forces in the Persian Gulf has sparked discussions about the possibility of a new military operation against Iran. International relations are difficult to predict. However, the development of the situation can be viewed as a set of alternative scenarios. A military operation is one of them.
Zamir Ahmed Awan:
Attack on Iran: A Gamble that U.S. Cannot Afford...
... in Gaza by focusing on other topics. Israel also expanded its military presence in Gaza. In terms of the West Bank, Israel sought to legalise the news settlements and expand old ones, including within the E1 corridor, which de facto separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank. As for the military presence in Gaza, Israel has used the ceasefire as a cover for building new military outposts and gradually moving the so-called yellow line.
At the same time, the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit and UN Security Council ...
....S. president takes office.
U.S. strategy for the next year or two should become clear fairly soon. For now, it appears that Washington is not planning to deploy additional forces immediately—had that been the case, a massive media campaign with accusations against Russia would already be in motion, much as it was ahead of the collapse of the INF Treaty. The latest National Defense Authorization Act makes no mention of New START at all (perhaps Republicans are reluctant to dictate anything to Trump,...
As the US asserts dominance over the EU with increasing intensity, tensions between the two powers are unlikely to provoke a breakdown in the Western alliance
As the US asserts dominance over the EU with increasing intensity, tensions between the two powers are unlikely to provoke a breakdown in the Western alliance, writes
Timofei Bordachev
, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.
A unique trait inherent to Greater Eurasia is the relatively high degree of independence in the foreign...
Syrian Democratic Forces Face New Challenges After Negotiation Setback
Each piece on the Middle East chessboard has a function, yet some are always disposable. For the purpose of the game and to defend the throne, the Kurds are the ones usually ordered to fight and keep the line, only to eventually be crushed. For years, Syrian Kurds have viewed as pawns in a greater geopolitical game, which is a grave miscalculation. Kurds played a vital role in the years-long battle against ISIS in Syria alongside...
Future prospects for Russia’s political and economic influence in the region will now depend less on ownership of key assets and more on its ability to offer Serbia benefits that outweigh the costs of Western pressure and countermeasures
Belgrade’s reluctant move to comply with American sanctions and force Russia out of its energy industry exposes the real limits of national sovereignty in a world where the United States is asserting its will with increasing disregard for established norms and...
The issue of internal transformation, taking into account external challenges, remains paramount for the EU
Rarely in the history of the European Union has it faced challenges comparable to the ones it faces today. Since the end of the Cold War, the EU has been on the rise. Its membership has expanded quantitatively and qualitatively. Pan-European institutions and European law have been strengthened. Diplomacy and security policy have been taking shape. The EU has gradually become more
like a...
The alliance was built for the Cold War, and it shows
“What we are about to do here is a neighborly act. We are like a group of householders, living in the same locality, who decide to express their community of interests by entering into a formal association for their mutual self-protection.”
That was US President Harry Truman on April 4, 1949, at the signing of the Washington Declaration creating NATO. It is an effective metaphor, and a convincing one. But it can also be turned around.
In a recent...
An attack on Iran would not bring security to the Middle East; it would bring chaos
For the past several weeks, the possibility of a military attack on Iran has dominated political debate, media coverage, and strategic calculations across West Asia. Whether such an attack has been delayed, postponed, or quietly shelved remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that any military action against Iran—by Israel, the United States, or both—would not be a limited or contained event. It would unleash...
