Author: M Barbu

Algeria has been isolated for years. Now it’s making a shaky return to the world stage.

Long viewed as North Africa’s most isolated and inscrutable country, Algeria is suddenly the belle of the ball. This year, Algeria has hosted official visits from Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, and the United States (the first visit by a US secretary of state since 2014). Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman will travel to Algiers next month. Meanwhile, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has visited Egypt, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar, and Turkey and is expected in Moscow later this year.

Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon

Ever since Russian troops first crossed the Ukrainian border on February 24, the Kremlin has employed characteristically euphemistic language in order to downplay the criminal nature of the unfolding invasion. This has led to the creation of an entire alternative reality where Russian troops are noble liberators waging a chivalrous campaign against dastardly Ukrainian Nazis who bomb themselves and stage fake atrocities by massacring their own civilian population.

Why Russia’s economy is more resilient than you might think

Since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the United States and Europe have deployed tools of economic warfare with the explicit goal of crippling the Russian economy and rendering the Kremlin unable to wage its war of aggression. The alacrity and scale of the Western response—which has included freezing Russia’s foreign-currency reserves, cutting off many Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, and coordinating export controls—shook the foundations of the Russian economy.

MBS Attempts to Burnish Regional Credentials Ahead of U.S. Summit

The Crown Prince and de-facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), visited key regional countries ahead of the planned July 16 regional summit with President Biden.

MBS’s visit to Egypt and Jordan, both key allies of the Kingdom, as well as to rival Turkey (Türkiye), sought to coordinate regional stances ahead of the Biden visit.

Wagner Group Continues Wreaking Havoc Throughout Africa with Impunity

Members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group have been implicated in numerous criminal activities throughout both North and sub-Saharan Africa.

While some believe Wagner activity in CAR is designed to offset sanctions on Moscow by accessing precious metals, others see the typical rapaciousness that comes with mercenary activity in fragile states.

Armenia’s Foreign Policy Backs Separatism And Territorial Integrity

The EU is trying its best, but it is not a magician. For a peace treaty to be brokered and signed requires one country – Armenia – to halt its support for separatism. Armenia has often acted like Russia in both backing territorial integrity of states and backing the ‘self-determination’ of the Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.

US To NATO: China To BRICS

The month of May-June 2022 has been the global calendar of important global multilateral interactions. Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States gathered for the first-ever Special Summit held in Washington, D.C., on 12-13 May 2022. The Quad Security Dialogue a group made of four nations, India, Japan, the US, and Australia held its Quad leader summit on the 24th of May in Tokyo to discuss the development of the Indo-Pacific economically and threats rising across the Indo-Pacific region. 9th Summit of the Americas held in the United States in first week June for the first time playing host since the inaugural meeting in 1994. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit (SCO-RATS) 2022 anti-terror body Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure was held between May 16-19 in Delhi. 14th BRICS Summit, convened under the Chairship of President Xi Jinping of China on 23-24 June 2022, in a virtual format. Group of Seven (G-7) Summit, Krün, Germany from June 26–28. 2022 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, Madrid from June 29 to 30. NATO leaders will also take the decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO.

The Culture Wars Are Back Again

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that more than six in 10 Americans (61%) now have little or no confidence in the Supreme Court after its decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade — a near-total reversal from the 70% of voters who expressed at least some confidence in the court right before conservative justices gained a 6-3 majority with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020.