... the US has played a leading role. However, the question of the EU's strategic autonomy has gradually departed from purely theoretical considerations. While maintaining its role as an economic giant, Brussels has long remained a political dwarf. The Ukraine conflict has become a powerful political stimulus for expanding political opportunities, although the preconditions for
such a dynamic existed earlier.
Similar incentives are emerging in other areas as well. The European Union has been forced ...
... 2010s under the threat of secondary sanctions and financial penalties. The European Union criticised the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Germany and France were particularly vocal. Even Moscow adopted a more cautious and balanced policy. Finally, after the Ukraine crisis started in 2014, the EU was hardly in a hurry to escalate sanctions against Russia. Brussels, and especially Berlin, were irritated by the first Trump administration’s attempts to impede the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline ...
... conflict have been ongoing for almost a year. They were initiated by the American side. President Donald Trump has radically revised America’s approach to the conflict. While Joe Biden was committed to war until Russia’s capitulation and to supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary, Trump has declared his intention to resolve the problem through negotiations and compromise. The very recognition that Russia has its own interests and goals, as well as the positioning of the United States as a mediator ...
... October 30 “to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.” Yet despite the scale of both the exercises and the announcements, these developments amount to little more than routine measures aimed at maintaining nuclear deterrence.
Since Ukraine launched its first major counteroffensives in the autumn of 2022, Russia has seen lively debates over the nature and logic of deterrence. These discussions have produced a wide range of expert opinions—both on the very concept of deterrence ...
... seems the only possible alternative to being drawn into an endless if intermittent war with the loss of tens or hundreds of thousands of our best men – and then sliding all the same towards nuclear Armageddon and/or the country’s collapse. We must shake ... ... punished). We should also give the Americans a good shake. Trump probably wants peace, but on his own terms: keeping most of Ukraine as a beachhead with which to pressure Russia. But even if we take his love of peace at face value, his position is extremely ...
... NATO possesses damage mitigation capabilities identical to those of Ukraine, merely on an exponentially greater scale. Unlike Ukraine, Western countries currently demonstrate reduced psychological tolerance for human casualties. That said, concerted political ... ... 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 ...
... 2017. For Iran, 2023. Since then, war – in its modern, diffuse form – has intensified. This is not a new Cold War. Since 2022, the West’s campaign against Russia has grown more decisive. The risk of direct nuclear confrontation with NATO over the Ukraine conflict is rising. Donald Trump’s return to the White House created a temporary window in which such a clash could be avoided, but by mid-2025, hawks in the US and Western Europe had pushed us dangerously close again.
This war involves the ...
... ago.
In the space of just a few weeks, the leaders of the EU’s most prominent countries issued ultimatums to Russia – with no thought as to what they might do if Moscow ignored them. Unsurprisingly, the efforts of the four most vocal backers of Ukraine – Britain, Germany, France, and Poland – collapsed into rhetorical theater with no follow-through.
Estonia, never one to miss a moment for posturing, saw a group of its sailors attempt to seize a foreign ship en route to St. Petersburg. The ...
Russia’s success in confronting the West on the Ukrainian issue has turned out to be, in many ways, connected with the support it received from the countries of the World Majority
Russia’s success in confronting the West on the Ukrainian issue has turned out to be, in many ways, connected with the support it received from the countries of the World Majority. This means that all global changes inevitably lead to a more active involvement of Russia than would be desirable from the point of view of...
... wanting to return to its former greatness. There is no question that the break-up of the Soviet Union has left deep scars on the Russian soul.
Regardless of this, Russia has economic and geopolitical interests in securing access to the Black Sea. For the USA, Ukraine also plays a key geopolitical role in ensuring its supremacy in Eurasia, as Zbigniew Brzezinski explained in his book "The Grand Chessboard".[10]
Restoring a common memory and identity: Ukrainians and Russians
Jacques Ancel can again ...
