How Putin and Zelensky Have Defined the Ukrainian Conflict
If anyone doubts the importance of individual leaders in the shape of world events, surely the war in Ukraine has dispelled them. It is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war and no one else’s, just as World War II in Europe was Adolf Hitler’s. Both men wanted war; both embraced it as a test of virility against a decadent enemy.
Defense spending increased for the seventh consecutive year within the NATO alliance, with the United States picking up much of the tab, according to figures in NATO’s annual report released Thursday.
In 2021, the U.S. accounted for 69% of defense expenditures within the NATO alliance while only accounting for 51% of allied gross domestic product. By contrast, Germany — the second largest economy within NATO — represented 5% of allied defense spending while accounting for 10% of NATO GDP.
The bottom line
This week, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced a major shift in its military strategy in Ukraine—moving from the goals of taking Kyiv and winning control of the entire country to the much more limited objective of controlling the Donbas region.
People with short memories might say that this wave of terrorism is just ISIS/Arab-Israeli related, but Hamas is also plenty involved.
Part of the challenge facing security forces in the face of the terrorist attacks over the past eight days has been their source: the perpetrators came from radically different sectors, and do not fit into a conventional box that holds a clear answer on what to do next.
Mali’s current political and security crisis is a continuation of events that happened a decade ago.
Separatist Tuareg rebels, fighting under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), began attacking towns and army bases in northern Mali in January 2012.
They went on to defeat Malian government forces and conquer Gao, a strategically important city on the banks of the Niger river in northeastern Mali, on March 31, 2012.
Turkish-made drones have featured prominently in Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, taking out significant Russian targets in the first few weeks of the war. But the conflict, and any possibility of a Russian victory, have cast a shadow over the future of Turkey’s rapidly growing drone industry, which relies on Ukrainian engines.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that the U.S. will dispatch another $500 million in direct aid to Ukraine, the latest burst to Kyiv as the Russian invasion grinds on.
The Taliban may be using databases of biometric information left in Afghanistan by the U.S. military and international organizations to target soldiers and dissidents, according to a report issued Wednesday by a human rights advocacy group.
Turkey played host for the second time as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine resumed today.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed in Istanbul after a two-week pause today. It’s the second time the sides have met in Turkey, which has sought to position itself as an honest broker in the conflict.
The round held at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace “achieved more meaningful progress” than any of the talks held so far, asserted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after they ended. Russian negotiators called the talks “constructive.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused shortages of food in Iraq and forced the government to pay more in gasoline subsidies, but the high price of crude oil plus sanctions on Russia has opened new opportunities for Iraq.