Eurasia

V Corps and US allies train to expand quickly along Poland’s strategic Suwalki Gap

The U.S. Army this month is drilling to rapidly grow an American-led battlegroup in Poland that operates near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where soldiers are tasked with defending some of NATO’s most vulnerable terrain. The exercise, called Griffin Shock, calls for expanding the U.S.-led force from a battalion to …

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‘No Alternative To Ukraine Joining NATO,’ Says Estonian President Alar Karis

There is no alternative to Ukraine joining NATO, Alar Karis, the president of Estonia, told Arab News in an exclusive interview at the presidential palace in the capital Tallinn on the margins of the annual Lennart Meri Conference on Friday. In recent days, 95 Estonian legislators have signed a statement …

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The Great Patriotic Special Military Operation

One of the many jarring aspects of the pobedobesie (victory-mania) as Russia marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany every year is the commercialization — in particular, street vendors hawking tat to make a profit off the sacrifice of Soviet soldiers and civilians. Jarring, but also fitting. For this is …

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Attacks on Russian Oil Facilities Deal a Military, Psychological Blow to Moscow

When an oil depot in Russian-annexed Crimea was attacked in late April, the resulting fire sent a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. The incident at the facility in Sevastopol was one of at least five attacks on oil infrastructure in southern Russia in less than two weeks. …

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Wagner Chief Says Russian Army ‘Fleeing’ Near Bakhmut

The head of Russia’s private Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday said Moscow’s conventional army was leaving its positions near the eastern Ukraine hotspot town of Bakhmut. His comments came just after Russia’s Defense Ministry announced it had redeployed forces around to take up stronger defensive positions north of …

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Attacks on Russian Oil Facilities Deal a Military, Psychological Blow to Moscow

When an oil depot in Russian-annexed Crimea was attacked in late April, the resulting fire sent a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. The incident at the facility in Sevastopol was one of at least five attacks on oil infrastructure in southern Russia in less than two weeks. …

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Navigating complex maritime security challenges in the Black and Mediterranean seas: Insights from the updated EUMSS

In March, the European Union announced an update to its 2014 Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS), identifying both new and persisting threats to European security at sea. Undoubtedly, Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine helped influence the updated EUMSS approach to the Black and Mediterranean seas, with implicit and explicit …

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Turkey’s 2023 Elections: Perspectives on a Critical Vote

It is a cliché for politicians to claim that an upcoming election is the most critical vote in the history of the country. In Turkey’s case, however, the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 are indeed the most consequential ever. The prospects for Turkey’s democratic future are at stake. …

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U.S. Strategic Aim: Break and Dismember Russia; Or Maintain U.S. Dollar Hegemony? Or a Muddled ‘Both’?

The West cannot relinquish the sense of itself at the centre of the Universe, albeit no longer in a racial sense, Alastair Crooke writes. A strategic aim would require a unitary purpose that could be succinctly outlined. It would require additionally a compelling clarity about the means by which the …

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Signals intelligence teams reposition to face China, Russia

Special operations signals intelligence teams say they need smaller, more versatile gear that gathers and shares data on the breadth of radio frequencies in all domains — land, sea, air and now space. The mission has shifted dramatically as the United States ratchets up competition in the frequency bands with …

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