Russia has found itself in the difficult position of Thor. The Nordic god Thor, in the Castle of Utgaard, was requested to drink up a great horn filled with mead. He drank and he drank but he could not empty the horn – it turned out that it was connected to the sea. Likewise, Putin was pushed into a fight with Russia’s sister republic of Ukraine, but he prom...
The Rio Declaration that followed the latest BRICS Summit in that coastal Brazilian city saw all members, including China, condemn late April’s Pahalgam terrorist attack in paragraph 34: “We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025”. This sharply contrasts with the draft SCO Defense Ministers’ joint statement ...
When Trump emerges from the depths of America, the world is not surprised — it assesses the consequences. This political restoration within the setting of “democracy” is not a historical whim, but a symptom. An empire that has lost its conscience is turning back to its old incantations. “America First” resonates like an echo of past doctrines: “to civilize”,...
This was done under the pretext of depriving Tehran of the ability to create nuclear weapons. There was and is no convincing evidence that Iran was going to produce an atomic bomb; the country’s authorities have repeatedly assured that they have no such intentions. In March, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard officially stated that American i...
Beneath the ceremonial trappings, awkward photo ops, and gherkin-flecked dinners, a serious transformation has taken root: the dismantling of Europe’s welfare model in favour of a vast militarised agenda, scripted in Washington and rubber-stamped by compliant European leaders. The core agreement - to raise defence-related spending to an eye-watering 5% of GD...
The American Commentariat is exploding with derisive accounts of US President Donald Trump’s ongoing series of phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These accounts are characterized by claims that Trump is desperately trying to con Putin into surrendering Russia’s real interests by agreeing to a cease-fire in Ukraine and somehow going al...
Operations “The Rising Lion” and “Midnight Hammer” were demonstrations of force mobilizing considerable resources. They lasted no more than 12 days in total. Their results are unknown, but much has been learned about those who planned them. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which relied on AI software rather than the observations of its inspectors, is ...
Russian-Azerbaijani relations are in trouble as a result of two scandals. The first concerns the recent police raid against suspected ethnic Azeri criminals in Yekaterinburg, during which time two of them died in circumstances that are now being investigated. That prompted Baku to officially complain to Moscow, after which a vicious infowar campaign was laun...
Comments from experts at the Atlantic Council - an influential American think tank - paint a complex and contradictory picture of the situation. Founded in 1961 and known for its support of transatlantic policy, the Atlantic Council plays a key role in shaping Western strategic narratives. Yet even its experts cannot provide a clear assessment of the attacks...
The Soviet Union was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in 1926. However, these relations later cooled down. Aside from the ups and downs after 1938, from 1979 onwards, reasons such as the Soviet-Afghan War, the Cold War, and Saudi Arabia’s support for Afghan mujahideen in close cooperation with the United States, ...
Bangladesh has been observing a significant transformation since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid after a student uprising. The interim government has taken numerous steps to put an end to the controversial legacy of the former government. However, the recent ban on the Awami League could lead the country to political...
The United States government may treat international law as optional - selectively citing it when convenient and scoffing at it when it condemns allies - but this does not erase the law itself. The legal frameworks governing armed conflict and civilian protection - from the Geneva Conventions to the Genocide Convention12 - are not mere diplomatic niceties. T...
The implications of Iran’s nuclear program are not what we think. Tehran renounced the atomic bomb in 1988, but is attempting, with Russia’s cooperation, to discover the secrets of nuclear fusion. If it succeeds, it would help the Southern states decolonize by freeing themselves from oil. As for the implications of the bombing of certain Iranian nuclear site...
I have scurried in part 1 of this series, through the historical journey of Kashmir, being conquered and reconquered, as its mantle of rule was being tossed from the hand of one empire to another, since the Vedic Era, till we touched down at the partition of India in 1947. Now, let’s close up on the timeline, during the period that led to the Treaty of Amrit...
Kashmir continues to be the victim of a long history of ancient imperial shuffling, and contemporary nation-state border disputes, inherited from a long history of heterogeneity, unassimilable ethnic and nationalistic allegiances, and irreconcilable sectarian and religious divisions. It is understandable why some analysts would call “Kashmir” the “Palestine”...
The confrontation between Israel and Iran does not at all correspond to the image presented by the media. Its roots lie in a period before the Islamic Republic and has no connection with the construction of a nuclear bomb. Its outbreak today is intended to conceal the misdeeds of the Argentinian Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy...
As of this writing, the Trump White House has launched an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran – a country that already is the victim of an unprovoked aggression by Israel. B-52 bombers have hit three major nuclear facilities; batteries of Tomahawk missiles also have been fired. The potential consequences are catastrophic. This action is in violation of th...
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Agency (SVR) warned that the Brits and Ukrainians are preparing two false flag scenarios in the Baltic Sea. The first one would see Ukrainian-transferred Soviet / Russian torpedoes explode near a US ship there and a supposedly malfunctioning one will then be found to implicate Russia in the alleged attack The second, meanwhile, ...
Recently, a small detail of the magnificent passing out parade of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, for 339 officers, including 19 women, caught my eye. The function was held at Habibullah Hall of the Academy on 29 May. Who is Habibullah? Not many remember him. He is Major General Enaith Habibullah, who was the first Commandant of the NDA when...
With the Western world largely busy in fuelling conflicts (against Russia) and China (in Taiwan), and Palestinians (in Gaza), the so-called ‘middle powers’ in the global hierarchy of states are taking key steps to reshape the global order from below. These powers’ behaviour is also fundamentally different from the Trump administration’s policies of imposing ...