Eurasia

How Disastrous Would Disconnection From SWIFT Be for Russia?

The April 29 resolution passed by the European Parliament on excluding Russia from the SWIFT international payment system should its troops invade Ukraine may be legally nonbinding, but it did not go unnoticed by the Kremlin. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a potential cutoff was a serious threat, and that …

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Department of Defense Releases 2022 Military Intelligence Program Budget Request

The Department of Defense released the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) top line budget request for Fiscal Year 2022. The total is $23.3 billion and is aligned to strategic priorities of the Secretary of Defense. The department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within …

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Russia To Forge Cooperation With Foreign Partners – OpEd

In his message of greetings to participants, organizers and guests of the 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF’21) that opens on June 2-5, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Moscow is interested in closer economic, scientific, and technical cooperation with its foreign partners and ready to share experience in …

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Foreign Ministers Prepare NATO Summit, Exchange Views On NATO 2030

NATO Foreign Ministers met on Tuesday to prepare for the NATO Summit on 14 June. “Ministers addressed a range of issues including Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia and China; and overall, the need for NATO to adapt to a new era of growing global competition,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “We are …

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That Old Story: Spying On Friends – OpEd

Agency was revealing on this point, though it merely confirmed centuries of understanding in politics: In our friends and foes, we mistrust. Having spilled such valuable beans, Snowden readied us for what should have been regarded as banal, even farcical. As Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists summarised, …

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Why Isn’t Russia Talking About Great Power Competition?

The lack of serious analysis of great power competition within Russia is due in large part to the baggage that Russian officials bring to any discussion of the country’s place in the post–Cold War world. All too often, debate in both policy and analytical circles is guided by long-standing grievances, …

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Russia in the Mediterranean: Here to Stay

Russia’s strategy in the Mediterranean is an integral part of its strategy for the wider European theater, which has long been the principal arena of its foreign policy triumphs and setbacks. Europe’s dominant position on Russia’s foreign policy agenda is a product of its strategic culture, which is in turn …

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Turkey’s Erdogan, Greece’s Mitsotakis ‘to meet at NATO summit’

Both sides are NATO members and came close to armed conflict last year but have been trying to lower tensions since. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet at this month’s NATO summit as both sides pledge to smooth their differences. The two rivals …

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Brussels Faces Off With ‘Europe’s Last Dictator’

For decades, the president of Belarus, known as “Europe’s last dictator,” has been a thorn in the side of the continent’s democracies. But the threat Alexander Lukashenko poses to European security suddenly grew more serious Sunday, when his security forces—with the help of a transparently false cover story and an …

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Eritrea Goes From Pariah State to Regional Powerbroker

In early May, when Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki visited Sudan, the official objective of the trip was to strengthen bilateral ties within a regional framework. The visit nevertheless raised eyebrows. It came on the heels of Eritrea’s military participation in Ethiopia’s civil war in Tigray region, and also at a …

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