Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to Federal Assembly, Moscow, January 15, 2020 It is a common fallacy that authoritarian rulers can afford to be impervious to public opinion. On the contrary, leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Turkey’s Recep Erdogan who are democratically elected ‘strongmen’ and enjoy high popularity in their respective …
Continue reading “Putin ushers Russia into transition period”
Amidst the excitement over the killing of the ISIS chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, a development of much impact on international security passed by when Denmark made the innocuous announcement on October 30 that it would permit the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to pass through its exclusive economic zone. Copenhagen modestly explained that it …
Continue reading “Europe’s gas alliance with Russia is a match made in heaven”
India draws satisfaction that the Kashmir issue did not figure in the G7 Leaders’ Declaration issued at Biarritz, France, on August 26. Prime Minister Narendra Mod’s hectic effort canvass with French President Emmanuel Macron at Chateau de Chantilly, north of Paris, on August 22, has had the desired outcome. Macron reportedly told Modi that Paris …
Continue reading “Macron’s Carolingian Renaissance of the G7”
A German-French joint statement on Friday regarding Ukraine condemned Russia and demanded the immediate release of the sailors detained following the so-called Kerch incident in November. Moscow hit back in equally strong language summarily rejecting the Franco-German demand. The Franco-German motivation in provoking Russia remains unclear. Maybe, a combination of circumstances would be at play. …
Continue reading “Germany, France struggle with resurgent Russia”
The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow on December 18 stands out as a tour d’horizon of the global strategic balance. The speech must be seen against the backdrop of the free fall in US-Russia relations, build-up of NATO infrastructure on Russia’s western borders and, …
(Mikhail Gorbachev & Ronald Reagan signing the INF Treaty, Washington, December 1987) The statement issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on December 4 regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty following the meeting of the foreign ministers of the alliance in Brussels puts the seal on the US decision to withdraw from the pact. …
