Eurasia

Sunday was an historic election day for Italy. A conservative alliance with a populist flair absolutely trounced the technocrats who had been running the country into the ground for the past several years. The previous prime minister, former Goldman Sachs banker Mario Draghi, implemented one of the most restrictive – …

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iranians have been forced to live under a brutal theocracy, enforced by the strictest interpretation of Sharia laws. A once secular nation filled with various ethnic groups thus turned into a dogmatic society, one where the mullahs and Supreme Leader have ultimate authority in …

President Biden’s condemnation of Russia at the UN on Wednesday, where he claimed Russia had violated the UN Charter by invading Ukraine, a country he ludicrously posed “no threat” to its larger neighbor, is epic hypocrisy coming from the leader of a country that not long ago invaded and destroyed …

As the first sounds of Russian missiles woke up people in various Ukrainian cities and towns in the early morning of February 24, 2022, they also marked a significant watershed in the history of energy. The fact that Russia started an unfair and unjustified war of aggression in the middle …

Qatar is working to export more gas to Europe in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Qatar’s energy exports are significantly higher than they were last year. Qatari exports of petroleum gases and other hydrocarbons such as liquified natural gas amounted to $9.2 billion in August of this year, …

Eastern Mediterranean conflict is steadily turning into a fresh strain in already-troubled US-Turkey ties, as Erdogan lashes out at Washington and Athens over the military buildup in the Dodecanese islands. The US and Greek ambassadors to Turkey have been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara in a protest …

Kyrgyzstan’s use of Turkish drones in a border dispute with Tajikistan leaves Turkey in a tight spot on how to balance its ties in Central Asia, a region where it has long sought to expand its influence. Turkey’s efforts to add strategic depth to its ties with Central Asia appear …

A series of unusual leaks in two gas pipelines running from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany triggers concerns about sabotage. Sudden and unexplained gas leaks detected in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany have prompted investigations by European countries into the cause amid …

Sharp fluctuations of major currencies inject new uncertainty into fraught global economic outlook. As the British pound plummets in value, the United States dollar is flying high. Against a tumultuous backdrop that includes the Ukraine war, soaring prices and China’s COVID lockdowns, sharp fluctuations of some of the world’s major …

Experts are not convinced the Russian leader would use nukes, but here are several possible scenarios that could unfold. President Vladimir Putin’s thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if Russian “territorial integrity” is threatened has sparked deep discussion in the West as to how it would respond. …