United States political leaders bluster, but Russia continues to be unmoved by their protestations over its annexation of Crimea and the massing of troops along Ukraines border. Long having believed itself the worlds only superpower, the US is now being delivered a lesson in real politik, if not humility. Estonia, which has a large Russian […]
Tag Archives: Russia
Lining up with death and taxes, the outcome of the weekends vote in Crimea on whether or not to join Russia was certain before the event. Somewhat remarkably — with about two-thirds of Crimeas population being ethnic Russian and the other third being openly opposed to joining Russia — the vote to join Russia was […]
The immediacy of events in Ukraine, including the recent the pro-Ukranian demonstrations in Kiev and pro-Russian demonstrations in eastern Donetsk, have blinkered much understanding of the unfolding crisis to Moscows south. The triumphalism that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union left many Western observers blind to an underlying architecture predicated on Russias deeply felt […]
That Russia and Ukraine have come to the brink of war in just a few short days is obvious enough. What is less obvious is not the quickly evolving events that might unfold over the next days and weeks but Russias end game. As with its negotiations over the Syrian civil war last September, Russia […]
The ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych has ended an era of heavy-handed political rule in Ukraine, but it has ushered in a period of considerable instability. It would be distinctly optimistic to believe that the ending of Yanukovychs rule will lead to a Ukrainian liberal democracy. Among the mobs that occupied Independence Square and eventually […]
The “framework agreement” reached over the weekend between United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured) to identify and destroy chemical weapons in Syria is a positive step in a war to date characterised only by negatives. But it has created a series of new complications for the US. […]
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s sudden willingness to put its chemical weapons under international — i.e. Russian — supervision might allow the regime to avoid a US attack while at the same time preserving its advantage in Syria’s civil war. Despite tough rhetoric from the United States, if an agreement can be reached on the modalities […]
As the United States and its allies — including Australia — move closer to intervening in the Syrian civil war, more questions are emerging over the chemical weapons attack which is the pretext for that intervention. Challenging questions are being asked about the motive behind the attack, as well as the consequences of a response […]
There was a moment of hope, a week ago, that there could yet be a negotiated resolution to the Syrian civil war. That hope now appears ended, with key Syrian government ally Russia backing away from what could have been international agreement on the need end the war. Instead, the Syrian war is increasingly spilling […]
The media attention focused on the Boston Marathon bombers has continued to emphasise their Chechen origins, but there has been little investigation as to why the brothers attacked such a popular, internationally oriented gathering. One clue might lie with the longstanding conflict in the remote region of Chechnya. Two Chechen-born, US naturalised brothers Tamerlan and […]