The newly elected president of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel is an unusual European politician. He is the second president in his country with a military background but the first without political experience. He never saw combat duty and is an arm chair military strategist but lionised as a “senior NATO leader” — whatever that …
‘Russia alone can already confront the entire West…’
President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of talks in restricted format, Kremlin, Moscow, March 21, 2023 The Russian media reported that President Vladimir Putin made an extraordinary gesture as President Xi Jinping left the Kremlin following the state dinner last week on Tuesday evening by escorting him to the limousine and …
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Free will trumps determinism in Gulf politics
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed (R) received Syria’s President Assad on official visit at Abu Dhabi airport, March 19, 2023 China’s mediation to normalise Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties has been widely welcomed internationally, especially in the West Asian region. A clutch of unhappy states that do not want to see China stealing a march on any front, …
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Whose game is Pakistan’s Khar playing?
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani (L) and Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a panel discussion at World Economic Forum, Davos, January 19, 2023 Watching the video of the Hina Rabbani Khar — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar exchanges at Davos on Thursday, one was reminded of a remark by Russian …
Biden stoops to conquer Brazil’s Lula
Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returns to power as left-leaning leaders are in control of six of the region’s seven largest economies The tragicomic “insurrection” in Brasilia on Sunday was destined to meet a sudden death. The universal condemnation and, in particular, the brusqueness with which the Biden Administration distanced itself from the protestors, …
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 …
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 …
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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Unrest in Mongolia: Who Stands to Gain?
Week-long anti-government protests in Ulaanbaatar show no signs of abating, Mongolia, December 9, 2022 The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a TV interview in Moscow on Sunday, when asked about where the relationship between Russia and the West is moving, “Well, we are not moving. We have already arrived at a station named ‘Confrontation’, …
Macron’s US visit tells Europe’s alienation
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and US President Joe Biden met in the White House, Washington, DC, Dec. 1, 2022 The state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the United States stands out as a signpost of the alignments taking place against the backdrop of the historic churning in the world order. The two …
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