Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma found himself in the company of a political titan, France’s President François Mitterrand, on a gloomy day in December 1994. “Young man, you will be tricked, one way or another,” Mitterrand told Mr. Kuchma, who was then the leader of a newly independent nation. Unsettled as …
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Sino-Russian rapprochement and Greater Eurasia: From geopolitical pole to international society?
Can international anarchy be stabilized, if not globally, then at least regionally? Those scholars who give a positive answer usually refer to the North Atlantic community which can be categorized as an international society from the viewpoint of the English school. The emergence of such a community outside the West …
Read More »A Chance to Stop Syria and Russia From Using Chemical Weapons
Moscow and Damascus have evaded all accountability, but Biden can build a coalition to change that. The battle for the future of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction is underway within an obscure but important international organization based in The Hague. The looming showdown at the Organisation for the Prohibition …
Read More »Are Russia and Ukraine Sliding Into War?
After six years of an uneasy and at times violent truce, the specter of a new war is looming large in Russia-Ukraine relations. In retaliation for Kyiv’s recent crackdown on pro-Russian media and politicians, Moscow is staging a large-scale and ostentatious military buildup along the Ukrainian border. The situation is …
Read More »Iran hard-liners call for end to Vienna talks after attack on nuclear facility
The second attack on a nuclear facility in five months has prompted calls for Iran to quit talks on reviving the nuclear deal. After another attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, hard-liners in Iran have called for ending the negotiations in Vienna on the United States’ reentry to the 2015 …
Read More »Is al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria’s Idlib on its way to demise?
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, is close to ending the presence of al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, after arresting one of its top active commanders and closing its military facilities in the area. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din (Guardians of Religion Organization) in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib …
Read More »White House faces tough task of tearing down Iran sanctions wall to save nuclear deal
In Trump’s final days, the White House introduced a slew of new sanctions aimed at hindering a return to the nuclear deal. Yet since the designations were so blatantly politicized, the risk of undoing them is politically manageable. In the fall of 2020, as Trump administration foreign policy officials anticipated …
Read More »Crackdown on dissent highlights Turkey’s drift from democracy
A recent decision to nullify a parliamentary vote and ongoing targeting of opposition lawmakers are further evidence of Turkey’s slide away from a democratic system. A recent move by Turkey’s ruling party to override opposition in parliament, alongside an ongoing crackdown on dissent more broadly, has cast doubt on the …
Read More »China looms large in Turkey’s controversial waterway project
Turkey is reportedly gearing up to partner with China in the construction of an artificial waterway parallel to the Bosporus, a project with likely implications for Russia and the United States in the Black Sea. While Turkey remains stuck between the West and Russia on a number of strategic issues, …
Read More »Turkey, US in rare position of unity over Ukraine
Russia’s Turkey policy to “drive a wedge between Turkey and its NATO allies” will not likely bear fruit when it comes to Ukraine. Turkey’s relationship with the United States is on the rocks, and the most immediate cause is Ankara’s refusal to get rid of its newly acquired, Russian-manufactured S-400 …
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