The Cold-War hypothesis that the Soviet Union was hoping to “wet its toes” in the Indian Ocean was in reality an extension of the geopolitical construct known as the “Anglo-Russian Question” that was written about by Lord Curzon, onetime viceroy of British India (1899-1905). We now know that the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was due …
Continue reading “Russians are coming — to the Indian Ocean”
Libyan National Army forces commanded by Khalifa Haftar prepare to advance to Tripoli, November 2019, File photo. Libya’s call seeking military assistance from Turkey and the latter’s prompt announcement on Thursday of its readiness to meet the request as early as next month is no doubt a carefully choreographed sequence of events. Tripoli and Ankara …
Continue reading “Eastern Mediterranean is big enough for Turkey, Russia”
The December 3-4 summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in London resembles a family reunion after the acrimony over the issue of military spending by America’s European allies. The trend is up for defence spending across European Allies and Canada. Over $100 billion is expected to be added to the member states’ defence …
Berlin Wall at the Brandenberg Gate, November 9, 1989 The 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has turned out to be a sombre occasion. Certainly, the euphoria that Europe witnessed on November 9, 1989 has evaporated. The impetus for deeper European integration, manifest in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which established a framework …
Turkish President Recep Erdogan (C-L) and US Vice President Mike Pence (C-R) met in Ankara on Oct. 17, 2019 The extraordinary US overture to Turkey regarding northern Syria resulted in a joint statement on Thursday, whose ramifications can be rated only in the fulness of time, as several intersecting tracks are running. The US …
Continue reading “US stokes the fires of Turkish revanchism”
People wave as a US military vehicle travels through Kurdish-dominated Amuda province in northern Syria, bordering Turkey Six years after Turkish President Recep Erdogan floated the idea of creating a safe zone in northern Syria, it still remains a chimera. When the Turks lobbied for the zone, notably in 2013 and 2015, the Obama administration …
Continue reading “A safe zone for Syrian refugees — so near, yet so very far”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky made a working visit to the frontline positions in Luhansk region in May 2019 The ice in the frozen lake shifting is one of the coolest sounds you can hear. The air is cold but not freezing, and the woods are silent. The frozen lake looks like it’s been stopped in time, …
Continue reading “Ukraine remains the signpost of world politics”
(Comedian Vladimir Zelensky sweeps to victory as Ukraine’s next president, Kiev, April 21, 2019) Comedy, it is often said, is unusual people in real situations and farce is real people in unusual situations. No doubt, it can be said that by electing comedian Vladimir Zelensky as their new president in a landslide victory in Sunday’s …
(S-400 : Russia’s geopolitical missile targeting the US) The Turkish-American relations are at a crossroads. Unlike past history of their troubled relationship saw hiccups but the two NATO allies moved on eventually, this time around, they are barreling toward a clash. From an Indian perspective, it is of interest that the clash is over the …
Continue reading “If US sanctions Turkey, can India be far behind?”
After a successful mission to Turkey this weekend on US President Trump’s behalf, his leading Republican ally Senator Lindsey Graham is reportedly heading for Islamabad on a similar mission seeking rapprochement with another truculent erstwhile ally of the US. Senator Graham, interestingly, used to be a hardliner on Afghanistan who once believed that a US …
Continue reading “US officials converge on Pakistan seeking Afghan peace”
