Eurasia

The issue of relations with Russia and the European Union is firmly back at the heart of electoral politics in Moldova. While there is a long list of candidates in Moldova’s October presidential election, there are no serious challengers to the incumbent president, Maia Sandu. Most of the pro-EU Sandu’s …

Moscow’s approach to Moldova is to play for time and keep the country in geopolitical limbo by stoking internal divisions, stalling reforms, and fueling disenchantment with the pro-European course. An old Moldovan joke goes that the best sight to visit in Moldova is Odesa: a legendary Ukrainian port city on …

A Jordanian population sympathetic to Iran’s ambitions, coupled with the country’s long border with Israel, could turn Jordan into a potential launching pad for attacks against Israel. Jordanians marched in the capital of Amman last week, holding aloft portraits of the late secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. The streets …

Caught between Hamas-supporting population and strategic partnerships with US and Israel, Jordanian King Abdullah to try to bring weight to bear this week in DC, says expert On Sunday, Jordan’s official news agency Al Mamlaka published a video filmed inside a Jordanian Air Force aircraft that was dropping medical supplies …

Popular unrest against ties with Israel and an uneasy economy makes the country vulnerable to Iran’s and ISIS’ malign activity. Jordan, which has enjoyed deep relations with the United States for over seventy years and hosts nearly 3,000 American troops, is a vital partner in America’s presence in the Middle …

Iran’s supreme leader has warned Israel that its assassination of Hezbollah’s veteran leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will “not go unavenged”, as fears of a spiralling conflict in the Middle East grow. As the shockwaves from Friday evening’s airstrike that killed Nasrallah reverberated through the region, and Israel continued to pound …

And National Security Became Everything In American politics, labeling something a matter of “national security” automatically elevates its importance. In the language of foreign policy observers, national security questions, such as regulating weapons of mass destruction, are matters of “high politics,” whereas other issues, such as human rights, are “low …

Backed by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, the ‘Evrazia’ organization is paying Moldovans to vote against the EU. It’s also a growing part of a larger ideological project to encourage Russia’s neighbors to identify as “Eurasian,” instead of European. The sun is shining on the Moscow River, and the vibes …

Iran and Israel Face Limitations That Make Massive Escalation Unlikely Many analysts watching the conflict in the Middle East have warned that the present fighting could escalate further. At the moment, such fears are concentrated on the prospect of a war between Iran and Israel. Of course, that war is …

How the Failure of Tehran’s Strategy Is Raising Its Appetite for Risk Over four decades, in an effort to preserve itself, project regional influence, and deter adversaries, the Islamic Republic of Iran has invested in three projects: funding and arming a network of nonstate allies; developing ballistic missiles that can …