Recent Posts

New Islamic State leader reportedly caught in Turkey

Islamic State leader Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi has been reportedly arrested in Istanbul, but the news has not yet been independently confirmed. The Islamic State’s most recent leader, Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, was captured in a raid in Istanbul, according to media reports Thursday. Al-Qurashi was caught last week during …

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For Finland, the Cold War never ended. That’s why it’s ready for NATO.

Since its founding, NATO’s key challenge has been ensuring that its members have the military means to fulfill their political commitments to each other. With Finland, which filed its application along with Sweden this week, the Alliance can rest easy: The Nordic nation not only meets the threshold criteria of …

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Don’t ignore the exchange rate: How a strong ruble can shield Russia

As the Russian ruble began its recovery in March from a sanctions-induced collapse following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Western governments began arguing that the exchange rate shouldn’t be used as an indicator of the effectiveness of their sanctions. The Russian financial system may have withstood the initial shock—but a …

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