Dmitry Trenin, Moscow Times
Unlike in the nuclear sphere, there are no rules governing the increasingly intense rivalry between the U.S. and Russia in the cyber sphere.
Polina Sinovets, PONARS Eurasia
(PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) Since its annexation of Crimea, Russia has not deviated from its coercive military behavior, displaying its military might again and again. The substance of its military exercises, however, appears to have evolved. Last October, the Grom-2019 military training simulated Russian involvement in a global nuclear war and resurrected the "nuclear card" in Russian military rhetoric. This year's January Black Sea exercises support the... Читать дальше...
E Chausovsky, CGP
Following the outbreak of the most deadly fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in decades and a subsequent comprehensive cease-fire agreement, a new phase of the conflict has begun. Russia and Turkey are certain to play a more direct role, and the complex relationship between Moscow and Ankara will prove instrumental in shaping the trajectory of the conflict moving forward.
Frida Ghitis, WPR
As the world watches the chaotic countdown to a new president in Washington, one anticipated policy shift after Joe Biden's inauguration is causing anxiety in some quarters and optimism in others: the return of human rights to the global agenda.
R. Dergham, National
Lebanon has sometimes been described as a "volcano of instability". Given the impossibility of forecasting its future, which is for the most part shaped by foreign actors as much as local ones, it is perhaps a fitting label.
John Harris, Guardian
Boris Johnson's run of bad decisions on Brexit and Covid have their roots in a saga of elite entitlement and superficiality
Charlie Cooper, Politico EU
LONDON — In a bleak year, Boris Johnson finally got his moment of triumph. How long it lasts is another question.
Steven Barrett, Spectator
The new UK/EU Treaty is needlessly long and turgid in its prose: this document was not drafted by people who think the law should be understood by all. Close inspection of the small print reveals that none of the details undermine...
Stephen Bush, New Statesman
Martin Wolf, Financial Times
This remains a foolish and unnecessary divorce, yet the reality may bring some benefits
James Lindsay, Council on Foreign Relations
Two thousand twenty had its fair share of big news stories. The same will be true of 2021. Some of those stories no doubt will surprise. Few experts a year ago were warning of an impending pandemic. Maybe a year from now everyone will be talking about cascading debt defaults in emerging market economies or a mass terrorist attack that surpasses September 11. Or maybe not. As Yogi Berra apparently
James Jay Carafano, Heritage
While there is a strong case to be made to reform Section 230, the NDAA is not to place to address it. The NDAA ought to focus on defense matters.
Vladimir Socor, Jamestown
Russian troops deployed to Upper ("Nagorno") Karabakh exceed by far the number stipulated in the November 9 armistice agreement (see EDM, November 12, 13) due to the additional deployment of Russia's Humanitarian Response Center personnel. This supplementary manpower is drawn mainly from military or...
Nasr Eddin al-Tayib, Worldcrunch
SUDAN-ETHIOPIA BORDER — After seizing the capital of the northern state of Tigray last weekend, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared the military incursion his forces launched at the beginning of November against the rebellious region a victory.
Economist
Iranian military capabilities to hold oil transport and processing facilities, desalination plants, and other critical infrastructure at risk have ushered in an age of mutual vulnerability, which is not going away.
Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy
The country's rise was fueled by fortunate circumstances that seem unlikely to last much longer.
Hal Brands, Bloomberg
The geopolitical history of this tumultuous year will be determined by what Biden and other leaders do next.
