President Vladimir Putin attending Christmas Mass, Annunciation Cathedral, Kremlin, Moscow, January 7, 2023 The bipartisan consensus in the Beltway on the United States being the ‘indispensable’ world power is usually attributed to the neocons who have been the driving force of the US foreign and security policy in successive administrations since the 1970s. The op-end …
India’s got the BRICS blues
Lula da Silva’s supporters cheer as he arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Brazil’s new president, Brasilia, Jan. 1, 2023 The Brazilian news agency reported that Lula da Silva’s inauguration as the new president on January 1 for a historic third term amidst a carnival-like backdrop was attended by over five dozen foreign delegations, composed …
US climbs escalation ladder in Ukraine
Building hit by 6 US-made HIMARS missiles on New Year Day killing at least 89 Russian conscripts, Makeyevka, Ukraine In all probability, the message conveyed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from his American counterpart Antony Blinken via Israel’s new foreign minister Eli Cohen concerned the Ukrainian missile attack on Makeyevka (Donetsk) on New Year …
With eye on Iran, Netanyahu wades into Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in Sochi (File photo) In his second coming as Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has hit the ground running. The international climate in which he skilfully operated for close to 15 years in two stints as prime minister has changed beyond …
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Russia consolidates in East Mediterranean
Turkish military convoy in border with Northern Syria (File photo) The curtain is coming down on the brutal 11-year old Syrian conflict, which former US President and Nobel Laureate Barack Obama initiated, as the Arab Spring swept through West Asia two decades ago. The United States has suffered yet another big setback in West Asia …
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Russia, Iran open a trade route heralding a bloc
A ship passing passing through a gate on the Volga-Don Shipping Canal, Russia (File photo) Consequent upon the Ukraine war, as the Sea of Azov becomes an inland sea for Russia, bracketed by the Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the River Don, the sea and rail networks of the region extend to Iranian hubs …
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Ukraine war tolls death knell for NATO
President Vladimir Putin addressed an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board, Moscow, Dec. 21, 2022 The defining moment in US President Joe Biden’s press conference at the White House last Wednesday, during President Zelensky’s visit, was his virtual admission that he is constrained in the proxy war in Ukraine, as European allies don’t …
A German-China-Russia triangle on Ukraine
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) with Chairman of the United Russia Party Dmitry Medvedev, Beijing, December 21, 2022 The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken probably thought that in his self-appointed role as the world’s policeman, it was his prerogative to check out what is going on between Germany, China and Russia that he wasn’t …
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In Ukraine, it’s Patriot vs. Iskander for now
Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky addressed a joint session of the US Congress, Washington, DC, December 21, 2022 With the Republicans poised to take narrow control of the House of Representatives in the US Congress in January, the Biden Administration is hoping to extract as much funding as possible for the proxy war in Ukraine against …
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NATO nuclear compass rendered unavailing
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Minsk, December 19, 2022 The visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Minsk on Monday, accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, turned out to be immensely consequential for European security. Putin drew attention to it rather obliquely at his news …