Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attended ceremony on the arrival of first of four German-made corvettes, Haifa, Israel, Dec. 2, 2020. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, in a speech in Moscow on December 8 dwelt on the western attempts lately to maintain the model of a unipolar world order. He said the European Union’s dalliance with …
Biden faces daunting challenges on nuclear issues
The well-known British historian and author of books on Soviet diplomatic and military history, Professor Geoffrey Roberts wrote a letter to the FT two days ago arguing for a reset of the US’ relationship with Russia by the Joe Biden presidency. It came as a breath of fresh air amidst the avalanche of apocalyptic predictions …
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Return of Great Game in Post-Soviet Central Asia
The Wakhan Corridor: A narrow strip of land in Eastern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, 295 km long and 15 to 57 km wide, connecting Afghanistan with China and passing through the territory of Tajikistan, historically a buffer between Russian Central Asia and British India. The recent Issue Brief by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission …
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France challenges Russian peacekeeping in Caucasus
A Russian peacekeeper patrols at checkpoint outside Askeran, Nagorno-Karabakh, November 19, 2020. (AFP Photo) The trilateral agreement on November 10 between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia over Nagorno-Karabakh is leading to a geopolitical struggle in the Caucasus. So long as Armenia and Azerbaijan were ferociously fighting, the great game lurked in the shade. But no sooner …
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Historical undercurrents in Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenian cemetery (1579) in Surat, India. 16th century onwards, Armenians from Iran formed an important trading community in Surat port city which had sea borne trade with Bandar Abbas. The analysts focusing on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis through the prism of regional politics fail to factor in that the Caucasus comprises ancient peoples. The Russian President Vladimir Putin …
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Biden’s “normalcy” means return of “ancien régime”
There has been a spate of reports in the American media that the US president-elect Joe Biden is assembling his cabinet of ministers. Most reports mention that Biden’s secretary of state will be Susan Rice, former US ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor in the Barack Obama administration. Reportedly, Biden’s choice for …
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Adieu, Trump, if leave you must!
President Donald Trump walks toward sunset at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, Nov 1, 2020. Into the final stretch of the US elections, a Joe Biden presidency is lurking on the horizon. Votes are still being counted in Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada. The races are too close to call. However, as …
Iran has a plan for Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenian shelling on Ganja, Azerbaijan, near Iran’s border Iran has unveiled a regional initiative to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Tehran in the weekend after a regional tour to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey to discuss the peace plan. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has since explained Tehran’s thinking. …
India’s remains of the day in Ladakh
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (R) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) at media briefing, New Delhi, October 27, 2020 The ‘2+2’ Ministerial Dialogue with the United States has ended leaving a trail of uncertainties. In substantive terms, there has been no real outcome. Words, words — that’s all we have, words that …
Emerging contours of the US-Indian military alliance
The mystery about the awkward timing of the so-called 2+2 US-Indian security dialogue due in New Delhi on October 27 is largely because there is a chicken and egg situation about it. It is impossible to decide which of two things caused the other one — the mushrooming US-Indian military alliance or the continuing downhill …
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