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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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. …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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. …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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. …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »Ukraine gets British long-range missiles ahead of counteroffensive
Britain has donated Storm Shadow cruise missiles to the Ukrainian air force in a move widely seen as a game changer in Kyiv’s ability to mount long-range strikes against invading Russian forces. The decision to hand over a quantity of the MBDA-built cruise missiles was announced by British Defense Secretary …
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