Eurasia

US officials say Turkey ‘well aware’ of their concerns over Syria offensive

The Biden administration is pushing Turkey to back off its planned offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, US officials told lawmakers on Wednesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Ankara would soon begin military operations aimed at establishing a 30-kilometer “safe zone” along its southern border. …

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Venezuelan president, top Russian diplomat overlap in Turkey

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were in Ankara on the same day. Two world figures under Western sanctions were guests at the same building in Ankara on Wednesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro both arrived at Turkish leader Recep Tayyip …

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Russia Accused of Creating a Global Food Crisis, Envoy Walks Out of UN Security Council Meeting

Russia has yet again been humiliated on the international stage during a UN Security Council meeting. Russian envoy to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya walked out of the UN meeting after the European Council’s president directly accused Russia of causing a global food crisis by stealing Ukraine’s grain and blocking …

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Israel-Iran Tensions Grow Amid Mysterious Deaths of Iranian Top-secret Missile Scientist and Military Officer

Tensions continue to rise between the governments of Israel and Iran after the mysterious deaths of an Iranian missile scientist and a senior military officer. Ayoob Enterazi died under suspicious circumstances on May 31. He was a Ph.D. holder in aerospace engineering at Iran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology in …

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With Lavrov in Turkey, a different war may dominate talks

When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visits his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in Ankara this week, Turkey’s proposal to establish a safe transport corridor for Ukrainian grain exports will be a top agenda item. If realized, the Black Sea corridor would require a naval escort, mine-clearing, and inspections to ensure …

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As Europe withdraws from Mali, Russia gets the upper hand

When Mali’s government saw Tuareg separatists and jihadists storming from the north toward the capital Bamako in 2012, it turned to France—a former colonial power—for help. Operation Serval stopped the advance and was later transformed into a regional counterterrorism operation, dubbed Barkhane. France was gradually joined by other European countries, …

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With Great-Power Crisis Comes Great-Power Opportunity

The War in Ukraine Should Prompt a New Opening to China Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—and the responses of the United States and China—has generated the first great-power crisis in decades. Such crises are rare and terrifying, especially in the nuclear age. Understandably, therefore, countries go to great lengths to avoid …

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China’s Southern Strategy

Beijing Is Using the Global South to Constrain America For the past decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping has endeavored to help China attain what it considers to be its rightful position at the center of the world stage. To do this, Xi—along with the rest of China’s leadership—is attempting to …

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The New Energy Order

How Governments Will Transform Energy Markets In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world appears to be at an inflection point. Business leaders have declared the acceleration of deglobalization and sounded the alarm about a new period of stagflation. Academics have decried the return of conquest and hailed …

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What If Ukraine Wins?

Victory in the War Would Not End the Conflict With Russia In recent days, many Western observers of the war in Ukraine have begun to worry that the tide is turning in Russia’s favor. Massive artillery fire is yielding incremental Russian gains in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, and Russia is …

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