Ted Snider

On January 6, Indonesia formally entered BRICS as a full member. It was an important geopolitical shift that went largely unreported and little discussed in the mainstream media. BRICS is an international organization whose primary purpose is to balance U.S. hegemony in a new multipolar world. Its roots go back to 1996 and the emergence … Continue reading “Indonesia Joining BRICS Is a Huge Deal That Went Unnoticed”

At the end of January, reports appeared that a leaked document outlining U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the war in Ukraine had been passed to Ukraine and was being actively discussed by European and Ukrainian diplomats and officials. The document was not verified at the time, and its existence was denied by the … Continue reading “Is Trump’s Ukraine Peace Plan Underway?”

Once upon a time, there was something called international law. It was a set of codified laws that had the United Nations as its firm foundation and that applied universally and impartially to all nations. Then, at some point, international law was replaced by the rules-based order. Based not on impartiality with the UN as … Continue reading “Bet You Never Thought You’d Miss the Rules-Based Order”

A leaked document has given us a first glimpse at Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian online newspaper Strana, U.S. officials handed the plan to European diplomats who then passed it on to Ukraine. The existence of the plan has not been verified, and Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the … Continue reading “Did We Just See Trump’s Ukraine Peace Plan?”

There may be a battle looming, not just between the Trump administration and Ukraine over the conscription of men between the ages of 18 and 25, but also within the Trump administration. The call for Ukraine to cast a wider conscription net predates the Trump administration. Facing imminent loss on the battlefield, after NATO had … Continue reading “Trump & Ukraine: The Coming Battle Over Conscription”

Russia’s now unstoppable advance across eastern Ukraine ushers in the inevitability that Ukraine has lost, and the war will end. The election of Donald Trump ushers in the inevitability that the war will end with a negotiated settlement. Two things are now clear about that settlement: Ukraine will not be in NATO, and Russia will … Continue reading “Everyone Wants US Forces in Ukraine Except the US”

By abstaining from diplomacy and relying so heavily on isolating countries and the broad stroke of sanctions, the U.S. runs the risk of creating a community of isolated and sanctioned countries. A community of sanctioned countries negates the effect of sanctions. And a community of isolated countries creates the very multipolar world the U.S. is … Continue reading “Iran and Russia’s Friendship Just Got a Lot Deeper”

Before the first day of Donald Trump’s term in office, he already had more diplomatic achievements than Joe Biden did on the last day of his. The entrance of the Trump team into the negotiations was the difference in Gaza. Biden opened his administration with the promise of “a new era of relentless diplomacy.” But after four years … Continue reading “Trump One; Biden Nothing”

Recent threatening statements by incoming President Donald Trump have raised the question of why any country would risk partnering with the United States. But the erosion in trust has not begun with the incoming Trump administration. Several years ago, Saudi Arabia began to reexamine its relationship with the United States. Their confidence had been shaken … Continue reading “Why Would Any Country Partner With the US?”

During the Cold War, American and Russian officials and diplomats were in constant communication. The Cuban missile crisis was resolved, not by isolating each other, but by communicating with each other. Contrary to American mythology, the Cuban missile crisis was resolved, not when Kennedy coldly stared down Khrushchev and forced him to back down, but … Continue reading “You Can’t Make Peace if No One is Talking”