Eurasia Press & News
Presidents Joseph Biden of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia have agreed, in their December 7 video-dialogue (see EDM, December 8), to create working groups that would address Russia’s concerns regarding Ukraine’s place in the European security order. Those concerns directly relate to Ukraine’s choice of a Western …
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December, 2021
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11 December
The Bosniak Side Of The Equation – OpEd
Once again, Bosnia’s Bosnjak leadership is attempting to create the multicultural, civic, unified state Washington has promised and failed to enable. It is worth remembering that “Bosnjak,” an Ottoman-era term dusted off in the 1990s, originally was meant to be the civic signifier of every citizen in the country, not …
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11 December
The World and Russia Need to Talk. But Not at Gunpoint.
Russia needs to stand down its old-style threat of war on Ukraine for any dialogue to be possible. Russia’s massing of military forces around Ukraine now threatens an invasion by as many as 175,000 troops, perhaps in a matter of weeks. While the United States, Ukraine and the rest of …
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11 December
Myanmar Struggles to Reverse a Coup; Democracies Can Help
An army leader miscalculated the costs of wresting back power. Now the country reels from the violence. Few countries this year dramatize more powerfully the need for a global focus on strengthening democracy than Myanmar, now 10 months into a new chapter of military dictatorship and violence following its February …
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11 December
Guinea’s Lesson for Strengthening Democracy: Use ‘Peer Power’
West Africa’s economic community shows that democracies’ best ally may be regional influence. As dozens of nations seek to strengthen democracy at this week’s White House summit, indicators for effective methods can be found in Guinea, one of five nations that this year suffered a coup by its military. An …
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11 December
After Two Coups, Mali Needs Regional Support to Bolster Democracy
Regional and international actors will need to prioritize locally devised and accepted solutions to tackle the roots causes of Mali’s troubles. Amid a 15-year global democratic recession, the Biden administration is convening over a hundred nations this week to revitalize democracy. This comes at a critical juncture, as democracy’s defenders …
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11 December
Putting Sudan’s Political Transition Back on Track
Sudan has been ruled by the military for 53 of the 66 years since it gained independence in 1955. On October 25, the military, in a familiar move, seized power throwing into question the political transition that would result in civilian rule. The civilian cabinet was dissolved, its leaders arrested …
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11 December
Are We Forever Captives of America’s Forever Wars?
As August ended, American troops completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan almost 20 years after they first arrived. On the formal date of withdrawal, however, President Biden insisted that “over-the-horizon capabilities” (airpower and Special Operations forces, for example) would remain available for use anytime. “[W]e can strike terrorists and targets without …
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11 December
America Is Up—and China Is Down—in Asia
But U.S. Power Faces Threats at Home “Time and momentum are on our side,” declared Chinese President Xi Jinping in January. But developments this year have not borne out Xi’s confidence about China’s inexorable rise. A number of structural weaknesses have been dragging down China’s prospects: a rapidly aging population, …
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11 December
Soon, the Hackers Won’t Be Human
But AI Can Boost Cyber Defenses, Too It has been a challenging year for U.S. cyberdefense operations. A dramatic surge in ransomware attacks has targeted such critical national infrastructure as the Colonial Pipeline—which was shut down for six days in May, disrupting fuel supplies to 17 states—and halted the operation …
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