... 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.
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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...
US-Chinese relations will most likely follow a course of controlled rivalry over the next four years
During his time in office in 2016-2020, Donald Trump revealed his support for the increasing containment of the PRC. His anti-Chinese rhetoric was combined with very specific restrictive measures against Beijing. A number of new legal mechanisms have emerged that imply sanctions against China and are enshrined in both federal law and presidential decrees. In other words, the attack on Beijing was...
Washington's desire to establish a dialog on arms control and risk reduction with Moscow and Beijing, albeit with each of them separately, looks very cynical
Relations between Russia and China today are stable and characterized by an elevated level of mutual trust. The rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing takes place against the backdrop of pressure from the United States and its allies at the regional and global levels. This competition, and even confrontation, has a pronounced military-technical...
... outrage among Muslim countries, as it left them powerless to stop the humanitarian disaster in Gaza unfolding before them. These countries are no strangers to American betrayal. Over the past couple of decades, they have witnessed
Washington use false accusation as casus belli to attack Iraq,
leave their Kurdish allies at the Turks’ mercy
and
abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban
after occupying the country for over two decades under the pretense of promoting liberal democracy. To these countries, Washington ...
The ICE alliance has more geopolitical and geostrategic rationale than economic
On July 11, 2024, on the margins of the NATO Summit in Washington, the US, Canada and Finland announced a new trilateral consortium—the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact—with an explicit intention to challenge Russia and China in icebreaker construction and deployment. It is expected that by the end of 2024 the three nations will turn ICE into a detailed business plan with financial projections, binding commitments...
