An ’emboldened Putin’ … meets with the Russian and international press and promises victory in his first formal news conference that Western media were allowed to attend since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 (AP and international wire services)
Category: EU
‘Epicenter’ Pivot to Asia
Posted by Reinhard Bütikofer At the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue June 5, 2023 China’s Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue Notable Euro Greens reactions First, by Reinhard Bütikofer Reinhard Bütikofer is a German MEP for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, part of the Confederal Group of the European United […]
F-16s and NATO, Russia and US
Years of failed negotiations between the Russian Federation, NATO, EU and US that led to war in Ukraine has entered a next phase. Not a new phase, but a ‘next phase’. The delivery of F-16 fighter systems delivers a next level of fear and loathing — and more that is not in the open
Nuclear Arms Race 3.0
A multi-billion dollar ‘modernization’ of US nuclear weapons delivered an unsurprising ‘next gen’ nuclear arms race. Strategic Demands called this a “Cold War 2.0”. Now, with threats and an announced ‘suspension’ of the New START treaty, the final remaining nuclear weapons agreement is foreclosed. A “Nuclear Arms Race 3.0” commences
A Long War?
The news this week was of a sudden, surprise visit to Washington DC, then huddled talks and negotiations between the president of Ukraine and the United States, followed by a speech to the US Congress … Many are now talking of escalation and a ‘long war’ as international news reports a re-strategizing of the war
Nowhere to Hide from a Nuclear War
With a nod from Strategic Demands and associated GreenPolicy360 to former Governor of California, Jerry Brown, our long-time political friend and associate, who joined Governing Boards of Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and Nuclear Threat Initiative upon leaving office and has continued to speak out strongly on the increasing danger of nuclear weapons … https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/nowhere-to-hide-how-a-nuclear-war-would-kill-you-and-almost-everyone-else […]
The International Space Station Minus Russia
In a move that can be seen as symbolic, as well as adversarial, the Russian Federation announces Roscosmos, its space agency, will be ending its participation in the ISS cooperative space venture. Sometime after 2024, the new Russian space agency director says, will be — ‘the end’
Eyes On the Global Security Threat
This is no time for equivocation. The ‘West v East’ war (not “special operation” as Russia calls their invasion of Ukraine) is a tragedy. The Putin decision to invade Ukraine is disastrous — humanly, strategically, morally, politically — and for year to come will be seen for what it is — a preventable disaster
War in the Ukraine
February 24, 2022: And so it starts with a Russian President speech, then tanks roll, planes attack, bombs fall, Russian troops move into Ukraine… diplomacy collapses, a campaign of war commences with a warning of “consequences you have never seen”
Nuclear Drills Today
The Russia-Ukraine Crisis… February 19, 2022… ‘Ratcheting Up’, tactical nukes in the field… Nuclear ‘Drills’ as Russian Forces Run ‘Firing Exercises’
Cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear Natanz site
April 11, 2021 Negotiations with Iran intercepted by reported attack on the operation systems of the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz. International news reports top of the news…
Eurasian Thoughts and China-EU Summit
China expansion, U.S. containment… Continuing the Strategic Demands’ Eurasia series, a few crucial ‘Great Game’ thoughts with Pepe Escobar via Asia Times. Moving pieces on an extremely complex – and dangerous – geopolitical chessboard
The Eurasia Great Game
Eurasian Great Game; Eurasia Strategy; One Belt, One Road; New Silk Road — call it what you will. The eyes of the West are opening. Alternatives to and for the Eurodollar and Petrodollar are real, markets are shifting with new alliances. Yuan time. Next moves are strategic plays
Global Security Fears: Climate and the U.S.
Global Poll (Pew Research) Climate change increasingly ranks as the world’s most pressing security threat… Fears about American power grow … ”Nations in the survey say the influence of the U.S. is a major threat to their countries… more people now say the U.S. is a threat than in 2013 and 2017 …
Another Trillion Dollar Year… and Counting
The debate over the #IranDeal swirls abetted by multi-million dollar donations and unprecedented lobbying. One issue is rarely mentioned even though the commencement of another war — an extended Middle East/Near East war — involves entangling alliances, economic/domestic consequences, and multi-dimension, multi-year costs
Strobe v Vladimir
What is the president of the Brookings Institute’s thinking for an “endgame”? The recent escalation of the Ukrainian conflict has been accompanied by an escalation at Brookings with its positions urging greater US military involvement. In a series of strongly worded statements directed toward Vladimir Putin, Strobe Talbott takes hard lines and pushes for “lethal […]
US “Lethal Aid” to Ukraine – Next Move?
How does one assess the risks and costs of escalating conflict moving toward events spiraling out of control? A civil war moving toward regional war and, as a result of weapon systems that have remained on “instant alert” as a carryover from the Cold War, a more than lethal “flashpoint”…
