September 23, 2023 Eurasia, Kavkaz
A fresh disaster may be looming in Nagorny Karabakh, the majority-Armenian highland enclave within the borders of Azerbaijan. On September 19, a lightning Azerbaijani offensive overwhelmed inferior Armenian forces, and Azerbaijan took possession of the province it had not controlled in thirty-five years. Locals reported at least 200 casualties, and …
Read More »
September 23, 2023 Eurasia, Kavkaz
Le conflit chronique entre Arméniens et Azerbaïdjanais resurgit après une période d’accalmie, ou de guerre de basse intensité. Pour le contrôle du Haut-Karabakh. La guerre la plus stupide du monde, disait à l’époque un diplomate d’une autre ancienne république soviétique, bien plus grande. Parce que la région contestée est absolument …
Read More »
September 23, 2023 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
The Biden administration… is also financing the ruling mullahs of Iran with billions of dollars to put the finishing touches on the country’s nuclear program and for delivering more weapons to Russia with which to attack Ukraine. “We’re sitting still, and the Chinese, the Russians, Iran, North Korea, and several …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia
At the G20 in New Delhi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Italy’s exit from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which the country had joined in March 2019. The long-expected decision by the current Italian government had recently been anticipated by a similar statement by Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Afghanistan, Eurasia, South East Asia
As Russia’s relationship with the West has deteriorated, the Kremlin’s view of the Taliban has changed. But substantive economic cooperation will be hard to achieve. Russia is one of just a handful of states in the world actively seeking to strengthen its relationship with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. While …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia
Ukraine is winning. That was the message Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought to Washington, DC, today, first to Congress, then later to the White House where he sat down with US President Joe Biden. But he was also asking for help to finish the job. While the White House and …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman said that a normalization deal with Israel is getting “closer” as the negotiations continue on a Saudi civilian nuclear program. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned on Wednesday that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, “we have to get one,” in the most direct public …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia
It is widely believed in the West that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine was not a rational act. On the eve of the invasion, then British prime minister Boris Johnson suggested that perhaps the United States and its allies had not done “enough to deter an irrational …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia
In December 2022, Time magazine named the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky its Person of the Year. The reasons seemed obvious: When Russia invaded in February of that year, few thought that Ukraine would survive more than a week, or that its president would remain at his post in Kyiv. But …
Read More »
September 22, 2023 Eurasia, Kavkaz
The Armenian separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday agreed to lay down their weapons following Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive in the Armenian-majority enclave. Between Moscow’s weakening position in the Caucasus and the West’s dependence on hydrocarbons, Azerbaijan has taken advantage of a favourable international context to complete a decades-long mission to …
Read More »