Geopolitics

By Stephen F. Szabo What separates Germany and the United States? Germany and The United States are Mercury and Mars. Germany is Mercury, the Roman god of commerce and the United States, Mars, the god of war. Germany has emerged over the past decade as the big winner …

By Robin Niblett Director, Chatham House Ed Miliband’s foray into the topic last Friday in a speech at Chatham House was lost amid an acrimonious dispute over who should bear responsibility for the rising death toll of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. In fact, the next British government will …

Gulf Arab leaders will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to prepare for a May summit with US President Barack Obama, Kuwait’s foreign minister was quoted as saying, with the summit expected to touch on Iran’s nuclear programme and developments in Yemen. The White House said earlier this …

The anti-Russian policies of the Baltic countries have allowed deployment of 1,000 troops from the 3rd US infantry division in the territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The United States and its allies in the West are waging the first phase of hybrid warfare against Russia, the commander …

BY Alexander Yakovenko Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko speaks out on the West-Russia relations. The Ukraine crisis triggered a broader crisis in the West-Russia relationship. What are the stakes and the bets today? First, the declared objective of the EU’s Ukraine policy is to have it firmly …

BY Sir Tony Brenton With last month marking the first anniversary of the Russian annexation of Crimea, it seems a fitting time to assess the situation, says former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton. Despite odd renewed outbursts of fighting, the acute phase of the Ukraine crisis may …

By Matthew Bodner Moscow’s decision to lift its unilateral ban on exporting advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran will boost the Islamic republic’s air defense capabilities, but their military impact depends on the outcome of ongoing negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. The air defense systems, built by Russia’s largest defense contractor Almaz-Antey, are some of the most …

BY Vladimir Frolov The Kremlin is desperately seeking Western help, even calling upon U.S. President Obama to join the Normandy format, to pressure Kiev to reintegrate the separatist republics into a federalized Ukraine. Moscow is worried that Kiev is moving to jettison the separatist-controlled parts of the Donbass into a stable frozen conflict along the lines of the self-proclaimed republic of Transdnestr. …

By David Makovsky Israel’s next government may have a turbulent start given its relative lack of political moderates, but a rightward trajectory on settlements and other issues is not guaranteed. The preliminary outlines of Binyamin Netanyahu’s fourth coalition are beginning to take shape ahead of the May 7 deadline …