Eurasia

Prospects for Sino-Russian Coordination in Afghanistan

The increasingly close bilateral relationship between China and Russia is one of the most interesting, consequential, and surprising geopolitical developments since the end of the Cold War. Beijing and Moscow — once bitter adversaries — now cooperate on military issues, cyber security, high technology, and in outer space, among other …

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NATO Arms Sales to Ukraine: The Spark That Starts a War with Russia?

The United States and its NATO allies are busily arming Ukraine and engaging in other actions that encourage the leaders in Kiev to believe that they have strong Western backing in their confrontation with Russia and Russian-backed separatists. The United States and its NATO allies are busily arming Ukraine and …

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Karabakh’s Development Set To Transform The South Caucasus – OpEd

While no one is watching, the social and economic geography in the South Caucasus is continuing swiftly to evolve. Signal among these developments, indeed its driving force, is the rebuilding of the Karabakh region following the expulsion of occupying military forces from the Republic of Armenia, or under its direct …

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Soaring Metal Prices May Delay Energy Transition – Analysis

The world’s historic pivot toward curbing carbon emissions is likely to spur unprecedented demand for some of the most crucial metals used to generate and store renewable energy in a net-zero emissions by 2050 scenario. A resulting surge in prices for materials such as cobalt and nickel would bring boom …

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Inflation Spike May Sway Biden’s Choice For Next Federal Reserve Chair – Analysis

President Joe Biden and his advisers appear to be nearing a decision on whether to reappoint Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell when his term ends in February. But public outcry over persistently high inflation may have changed the terms of the discussion. Biden is deciding as inflation climbs to …

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Is No ‘New Warsaw’ or ‘Eastern NATO’

Although the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a regional organization that is generally externally focused in its declarations and statements, it is internally focused in its practices and actions. Since its establishment in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has experienced several horizontal (expansion of members) and vertical (tasks and functions) …

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France: Nationalism Makes a Comeback

Like Macron five years ago, Zemmour is seen as the outsider opposed to incompetent and corrupt insiders. He seems unaware of the difference between American “secularism,” in which the state sees itself as protector of all religions, and the French laïcité in which the state regards all religions as potential …

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What to Expect from the Biden-Xi Meeting – And It’s Not Good

With the U.S. suffering significant inflation, and with supply chain disruptions identified as one of the causes, expect little pressure on China to address intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, unfair Chinese government support in distorting markets, or disruptive Chinese trade barriers. The bias will be to put a happy face …

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Libya will not attend Paris conference if Israel does

Libya will not participate in the Paris conference on Libya if the occupation state of Israel attends, Spokesperson for the National Unity Government (GNU) Mohamed Hammouda revealed earlier this week. “The government is steadfast in its position and the position of all Libyans and is committed to the Palestinian cause,” …

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Iraq Prime Minister Survives Election-Related Attack

The November 6 drone strike on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s home represented a dramatic escalation of violence over the results of Iraq’s October 10 national election. The attack retaliated for the killing and wounding of pro-Iranian protesters by Iraqi security forces. The assassination attempt, likely approved by Iran, illustrates …

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