Moscow says it has ordered its troops to start returning to their permanent bases following extensive military drills in southern Russia and in and around the occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in March 2014. The April 22 announcement comes amid heightened tensions with the West over Russia’s …
Read More »CZECH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS HEADED FOR ‘BEYOND CATASTROPHIC’
Czech accusations the Kremlin was behind a 2014 explosion at a munitions depot that killed two people and the subsequent expulsion of 18 ‘diplomats’ will further damage already strained relations, notwithstanding the president’s pro-Russian leanings. The Czech Republic accused Russia on April 17 of being behind a 2014 explosion at …
Read More »Constitutional Reform In Contemporary Bosnia – Analysis
Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the world’s most notoriously dysfunctional constitutions. Although at 5,000 words the document is also one of the world’s shortest constitutions, brevity is not always a benefit. The constitution was prepared by US lawyers overseeing the peace negotiations ending the Bosnian war in Dayton, Ohio …
Read More »Syrian missile lands near Dimona nuclear reactor, interception fails
SA-5 flies from Syria all the way to Negev in the longest-range attack yet by Syria; Patriot missile activated in response. Israel and Syria exchanged missile attacks early on Thursday morning, after Damascus launched an advanced surface-to-air missile that landed in the Negev Desert. Alarms sounded in Abu Qrenat near …
Read More »Biden Must Make Hard Choices Quickly on Afghanistan
Afghanistan may not rank in the top tier of U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy priorities, given the host of pressing crises in the United States. But Afghanistan’s fate hinges in large part on how the Biden team decides to approach the country’s conflict and its tenuous, still-nascent peace process. Biden …
Read More »Will Biden Seize the Opportunity for an Alliance With India?
President Joe Biden faces a slew of important foreign policy challenges. But with India, he has a historic opportunity to forge a strategic alliance to help build a stable balance of power in Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region. India has been a bright spot in U.S. foreign policy over …
Read More »India and Pakistan Pursue a Thaw in Kashmir—Again
In late February, India and Pakistan announced a cease-fire along their de facto border in the contested region of Kashmir. In a joint statement, the two countries’ military authorities said that there will be a “strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing,” while also claiming they will seek …
Read More »Bosnia Under Pressure to Adopt Srebrenica Genocide Denial Law
After the latest in a decade-long series of unsuccessful attempts to pass a law banning the denial of the Srebrenica genocide, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top international official could take action to impose legislation from above. At a session last week of the Bosnian parliament’s House of Peoples, Serb and Croat …
Read More »Can ASEAN Use Its New Economic Clout To Tame Aggressive China? – OpEd
After 30 years of close relations with ASEAN countries, China now feels that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is heavily dependent on it. With a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3.11 trillion and a population of 673 million people, the fast-growing ASEAN region is a lucrative market …
Read More »Amid A Czech Spy Scandal, A Meltdown Of Moscow’s Atomic Ambitions? – Analysis
It’s one of Russia’s major exports, a source of symbolic pride and commercial revenue: atomic energy, in the form of civilian technology to build and maintain nuclear reactors around the world. State-owned company Rosatom is the driver of that policy, with ambitions for nearly $15 billion in revenues from outside …
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