Ukraine
The banality of Putin’s evil
No event since the end of the USSR has shaken the global order as violently as Russia’s war against Ukraine. The trampling of international norms, the devastation of cities, the…
Could China save the world?
Xi Jinping may be the most powerful man in the world. His principal rival for that title – Joe Biden – presides over a dysfunctional political system in which effective domestic…
If Russia breaks the nuclear taboo
Your main aim is to show that Europe’s security order cannot be altered without Russia’s tacit approval. You must set NATO an intolerably high price for joining the fight against…
Ukraine conflict: turning point?
Ukraine’s successful counter-offensive in Kharkiv region and President Vladimir Putin’s sharply escalatory response in recent days represent a turning point in the Ukraine…
The war in Ukraine is pushing Central Asia away from Russia
As the Russian army pulled back the troops after a series of humiliating defeats in north-east Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Uzbekistan to attend a gathering…
A new solidarity? Olaf Scholz on the future of Europe
The German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once quipped that, in politics, “whoever has visions should go to the doctor”. Big-thinking and inspiring rhetoric do not marry easily with…
Six months of war in Ukraine: Europe’s life and fate
For the political analyst, it is often difficult to identify whether the decisions made by powerful actors are borne of a sense of strength or out of weakness. In this respect,…
India and Russia: friends for a reason, friends for a season
If your friend’s friend is an enemy, does that make your friend a frenemy? In the milieu of Mean Girls, it most certainly does. In the context of efforts to cast Russia as a…
Winter is coming: staying the course on Ukraine
Five months into Moscow’s “special military operation”, Russian and Ukrainian forces are locked in a grinding war of attrition. Russian forces are making progress,…
War fatigue in the West
Ukraine’s heroic fight against the Russian invasion sparked a powerful response from the democratic world, not only in the trans-Atlantic neighborhood but also from Asia-Pacific…