BUSINESS
The BRICS are neither anti-West nor a bloc
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa can keep holding summits. Geopolitically, that still won’t make them a thing
BUSINESS
The in-the-works US-Israel-Saudi Arabia deal is all about power, not ideals
Each country in this deal will cede a lot and gain a lot. The US will manage to keep Beijing away from Riyadh but will have to provide weapons and help Saudi build nuclear power installations. Saudis will have to normalise ties with Isreal, and the latter will have to promise not to eat away Palestinian territories
BUSINESS
Out of Africa, a new world war?
Putin is particularly drawn to the Sahel because the region can destabilise the West in many ways at once. It has become the global epicenter of terrorism
BUSINESS
Russia outnumbers the US 10-to-1 in tactical nukes. Now what?
Never mind that Vladimir Putin is breaking all nuclear taboos and China is beefing up its arsenal. US nuclear doctrine is still fundamentally sound
BUSINESS
European Union wasn’t built for this era of US-China hard power and war
Ideals mean little, might once again makes one right, the strong prey on the weak, and only the strongest can set limits. No member state of the EU will be among the mightiest powers. In theory, Europe could be a superpower, by becoming a United States of Europe. But that isn't happening. The EU will instead remain a confederation masquerading as a federation, and possibly revert to being a mere trade area
WORLD
After the Wagner uprising, worry about the nuclear plant in Ukraine
Prigozhin’s coup, even if it fizzles, will multiply Vladimir Putin’s panic. He may escalate yet again, perhaps in a desperate attempt to change the narrative before withdrawing.
BUSINESS
West's appeal to rules-based order to stop Russia won't fly in the global South
Western countries could use their economic power to coerce or cajole the South to be on their side and punish the South’s countries when they don’t fall into line. Or they could woo the bloc. That would mean listening to the South’s concerns — and addressing them. One part of it should be a reform of the UN
BUSINESS
Russia’s dambusting is another war crime
Are dams fair game in warfare? Nuclear power plants? It’s not as if Vladimir Putin would care
BUSINESS
Should Ukraine take the war into Russia?
A better approach than crossing over into Russia might be simply to cut Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, from Russian supply lines. With luck, Putin would at that point decide that he’s had enough and grudgingly enter peace negotiations. But if Putin came under military pressure in Russia proper, he could go to any extreme
BUSINESS
The Kremlin offers a Trump-Putin ticket for 2024
The Russian president wades back into US politics, declaring the Donald’s enemies his enemies too. Shouldn’t that make Republicans think?
BUSINESS
Nationalism: Your nation is its story, for better or worse
The core of nationhood is a collective project of selective forgetting and remembering. A group of people looks at the past and cherry-picks certain events, traumas, heroes, martyrs, grievances and victories. Some of the narratives of nation-building are healthy and others dangerous
BUSINESS
Belarus nukes are Vladimir Putin's response to all the notions of peace in Ukraine
If anybody thought the Kremlin might be ready to talk peace, the Russian president has just proven the opposite. Even Xi Jinping may not be a happy man with this move, coming so soon after attempts to talk peace with Putin in Moscow
BUSINESS
After Ukraine, does Vladimir Putin have his eyes on another country?
Moldova is also leaning West. That’s why the Kremlin is taking aim
BUSINESS
The geopolitical multiverse is back to two superpowers
China’s rise and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have put a stop to a multipolar world order
BUSINESS
Behind Russia's cynical ploy of overwhelming Ukraine's smaller army with sheer numbers
Human life means nothing for Putin. Barely-trained and poorly armed regular soldiers and Wagner mercenaries, regarded as cannon-fodder by their superiors, recall the similar horrors of earlier wars
WORLD
Germany should make English an official language
What Akkadian, Aramaic or Latin used to be, English is today: the lingua franca. Resistance is futile
WORLD
Europe needs a better nuclear deterrent against Putin
Fears of Russia plus lingering doubts about the US have dredged up old ideas about a European nuclear bomb
WORLD
Europe needs a better nuclear deterrent against Putin
Fears of Russia plus lingering doubts about the US have dredged up old ideas about a European nuclear bomb.
