At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin was defiant about the Russian economy. “Despite all the obstacles we are facing and the illegitimate sanctions imposed against us,” he declared, “Russia remains one of the key participants in global trade and is rapidly expanding the new logistics and geography
World leaders gathered in Normandy on June 6 to mark the eightieth anniversary of the Allied landings in France during World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited to attend, but the war he unleashed more than two years ago in Ukraine cast a long shadow over commemorations. In his official address, French
For nearly five decades, Algeria has used the dispute over Western Sahara as a front for its antagonization of Morocco. But behind Algeria’s support for the Sahrawi cause lies a much more complex case of the Algerian establishment’s determination to simultaneously avenge historical grievances and prevent Morocco from reclaiming a territory that would increase its
Electricity blackouts are the new normal in Ukraine as the country struggles to cope with the consequences of a devastating Russian air offensive that has destroyed around half of Ukraine’s wartime power-generating capacity since the start of 2024. Millions of Ukrainians are now adapting to the reality of regular power cuts, with electricity in many
The prolonged nature of the Syrian conflict has prompted a paradigm shift by the international community and Syrians, involving early recovery and reconstruction alongside ongoing emergency responses, bypassing a political resolution. This approach addresses the urgent need for local communities to recover from the civil war’s impacts and reestablish livelihoods, while also combating donor fatigue.
Ukraine achieved a major diplomatic breakthrough last week, securing the green light from key allies for strikes inside Russia using Western weapons. The Russian reaction to this landmark news has bordered on the hysterical, with a host of Kremlin officials and propagandists denouncing the West and vowing terrible revenge. Predictably, Vladimir Putin led the way,
The latest Gaza war has resulted in horrific loss of life since October 8, 2023, and no matter how it eventually ends, the US government and companies should be paying attention to these five ripple effects: 1. The reputation of the United States and US company brands have taken a major hit in the
According to state-backed media in Iran, more than one hundred thousand Shia Afghan migrants in the Iranian city of Mashhad participated in state-backed mourning processions to commemorate the death of hardline Islamist President Ebrahim Raisi in late-May. But this is far from a one-off. In March, the presence of at least twenty thousand Afghan migrants
