It’s a pattern Ukrainian officials have commented on before: be patient. The West says no to more advanced weapons and then comes around to sending them. It happened with HIMARS rocket systems, tanks, and fighter jets. The pattern seems to have been repeated again....
The Flight From the US Dollar
On March 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In his article in the Russian media preceding the meeting, XI enthused that "China-Russia trade exceeded 190 billion U.S. dollars last year, up by 116 percent from ten...
Coming in From the Cold: Escaping Isolation
Joe Biden promised, while campaigning for the presidency, to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah." He didn’t. He promised to isolate Russia. He hasn’t. The US has experienced a recent deficit in its ability to enact its promises to isolate enemies. Its confidence is...
Russia’s Military Performance Doesn’t Match the Propaganda
American government and media statements have led the public to believe that the Russian military has been shockingly ineffective and that there is confident optimism for a Ukrainian victory. Ukrainians have fought courageously and performed above expectation. But...
How Big Is BRICS?
While the US labors to maintain the unipolar world it leads, a multipolar world is springing up all around it. Africa and Brazil cry for it. China and India support it. Germany has whispered it, and France has called for it. Iran and Saudi Arabia are joining the...
The Growing Russia-India Relationship
The US has made much of its success in isolating Russia internationally. But that boast is hard to take too seriously when Russia is growing ever closer to the two largest countries in the world. While the world has been watching the "no limits" partnership...
The World Is Changing. Is the US Finally Noticing?
Recent statements by two Biden administration officials hint that the US is finally noticing that the world around them is changing On April 11, CIA Director William Burns spoke at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. In a somewhat stunning statement...
Lula Goes to China: Three Takeaways
On April 14, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since their meeting, Lula, who is the leader of the largest economy and most powerful country in Latin America, has made statements, both with XI...
What Happens When You Talk? Peace Breaks Out!
After decades of stewardship of the Middle East, during which the US pursued the absurd policy of not talking to its enemies and creating and enforcing blocs to oppose and isolate those enemies, the predictable outcome occurred. The region was left with blocs and...
Saudi Arabia: When Being Neutral Isn’t Neutral Anymore
"We do not believe in polarization or selecting between one partner and another," Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said, asserting the Kingdom’s right to act "based on its own interests" and to have...