September, 2020

• 2 September

  The Costs of Germany’s Weak Response to a Russian Murder Plot on Its Soil

  The German government announced earlier this month that it believed Russian agents were responsible for the killing of a Georgian asylum-seeker who was murdered in Berlin last summer in broad daylight.

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• 2 September

  Why Russia’s Oil Giant, Rosneft, Abruptly Cut Its Ties With Venezuela

  The surprising decision this week by Russian oil giant Rosneft to pull out of Venezuela provides a textbook study of the intricacies of Russia’s global energy wars.

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• 2 September

  Was a Top Russian General Involved in the Downing of Flight 17 in Ukraine?

  If revelations that a top Russian intelligence chief was reportedly involved in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine didn’t make it to the top of your newsfeed this week, amid all the coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, don’t worry. You’re probably not alone. But it …

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• 2 September

  Russia Is Getting More Than It Bargained For in Libya and Syria

  Is Russia’s lucky streak in Syria and Libya finally running out? The Kremlin has gambled big on proxy warfare in both countries, deploying thousands of private military contractors with the so-called Wagner Group to back its favorite strongmen. But after a recent run of misfortunes for Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, …

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• 2 September

  Mapping the Turkish Military’s Expanding Footprint

  Turkish soldiers hold their position on a tank as they watch the town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 13, 2014. The strategic border town of Kobani has been beseiged by Islamic State militants …

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• 2 September

  US Sanctions on Syria: What Comes After the ‘Summer of Caesar’

  In return for pressure from Russia on Damascus to make real concessions to end the suffering of Syrians including halting the use of some of its most egregious instruments of war and end strikes on populated areas, the US and Europe could offer to refrain from imposing additional sanctions and …

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• 2 September

  In Iraq, the United States Must Be Careful What It Wishes For

  If Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi cracks down too hard on pro-Iran militias, as Washington has demanded, he risks losing his position and jeopardizing the country’s security.

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• 2 September

  Syria

  Four U.S. soldiers were reportedly injured on Tuesday in a collision with a Russian military vehicle during a routine security patrol in north-eastern Syria. The incident follows skirmishes last week in the same region between U.S. and Syrian government forces, which allegedly killed one Syrian soldier. Crisis Group expert Dareen …

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• 2 September

  China's 'Debt-Trap' Diplomacy with Third-World Nations

  Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping’s grand thoroughfares are now global in scope, extending as far as Djibouti, a strategic maritime chokepoint in Africa, just west of the Arabian Peninsula, or Ecuador, home to South America’s third-largest oil reserves.

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• 2 September

  Switzerland considers banning Hezbollah

  Switzerland is considering banning the Iranian-backed Shia group, Hezbollah, after the country’s federal council agreed last week to review a report investigating the group’s activities within its borders.

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