China has been developing closer ties with countries in Central Asia over recent years. Trade between China and the Central Asia region grew to US$89 billion in 2023, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Chinese trade rose with every country there except Turkmenistan. In my paper from June 2024, which is part of […]
Browsing Category: Russia
Arctic commercial navigation / Arctic Resources / Block 2 / China / Global Warming / icebreakers / NATO / News / Russia / United States / World
As global players focus on the Arctic, US icebreakers are scarce
Nowhere on earth is global warming proceeding more rapidly than inside the Arctic Circle. Over the past two decades, the Arctic has grown five degrees Celsius warmer. And the trend is accelerating, with the Arctic warming nearly four times as rapidly as the rest of the planet. Climate scientists expect that Arctic median temperatures will […]
Block 3 / Estonia / NATO Article 5 / News / Russia / Russia Shadow Fleet / Trump-Putin Negotiations / Ukraine war / United Kingdom / World
Russia plays it cool on Estonia’s ‘shadow fleet’ ship seizure
Estonia seized one of Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels on Friday (April 11), just two days after approving a new law that allows it to use force to sink such ships if they pose a national security threat. RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan condemned the first as “state-sponsored piracy”, while Russian President Vladmir Putin’s senior aide Nikolai Patrushev speculated that Britain might be behind the […]
Block 3 / Estonia / Estonian Nationalism / Europe / NATO / News / Russia / Russia-Europe War / Ukraine war / World
Estonia cribbing Ukraine’s script for provoking Russia
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princeps, a Bosnian-Serb radical, shot and killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. Princeps did not act alone. He was one of at least six principals in an organization called Young Bosnia, and his group and others were seeking independence from the Austro-Hungarian empire. He […]
Baltics / Block 3 / Germany / Lithuania / Military Schengen / NATO / NATO-Russia Founding Act / News / Russia / Suwalki Corridor / Ukraine war / World
Germany’s Lithuanian base complicates grand US-Russia deal
Germany just opened its first permanent military base abroad since World War II amidst the competition for leadership of post-conflict Europe between itself, France and Poland. Located in southeastern Lithuania near the Belarusian border and in proximity to Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, it’s strategically positioned to give Germany outsized influence in shaping Europe’s future security architecture. That’s because Germany is now a […]
Belt and Road Initiative / Block 4 / Central Asia / China / Donald Trump / Great Game On / New Great Game / News / Russia / United States / US foreign policy / World
Great Game On: Shining light on the contest for Central Asia
The Founding Fathers advised Americans to steer clear of entangling alliances if they wished to preserve their newly acquired Republic. This may be news to some of our politicos but not to President Donald Trump. No US president has been leerier of the interventionist foreign policy bequeathed to us by Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt […]
Baltic States / Block 2 / Europe / NATO summit / News / Poland / Romanaia / Russia / US-Europe Relations / World
East-West divide over plan to replace US in NATO
The Financial Times (FT) cited four unnamed European officials to report that “European military powers work on 5-10 year plan to replace US in Nato.” The UK, France, Germany and the Nordic nations are named in the report as wanting to present this proposal to the US during the next NATO Summit in June. FT […]
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Russia’s economic pain won’t force it to end the war
In recent months, many Western media commentators have suggested the Russian economy is in such serious trouble that President Vladimir Putin will soon have little choice but to end the war in Ukraine. In December, the Washington Post reported fears among Russian businesses that interest rate hikes to combat inflation could bring the economy to […]
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Putin’s diminishing returns and Russia’s shrinking world
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a guarded message of congratulations to Donald Trump on inauguration day but then held a long direct call with his “dear friend,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping. From Putin’s perspective, this makes sense. Russia gets billions of dollars from energy sales to China and technology from Beijing, but from Washington, until […]
Afghanistan / Block 3 / News / Russia / Russia-Pakistan Railway / Taliban / US sanctions / World
On a train from Pakistan to Russia via US-sanctioned Iran
Pakistan Railways Freight CEO Sufiyan Sarfaraz Dogar announced last week that the first Russian-Pakistani freight train service will launch on March 15, transiting across Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The line will facilitate Russian energy and industrial product exports to Pakistan and Pakistan’s agricultural and textile exports to Russia, according to reports. This has been a long time […]