Articles from ‘Independent News Roundup’ in ‘Analysis’

For Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and one of its most densely populated nations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early 2026 exposed fault lines that politicians and technocrats have long preferred to ignore. · The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most consequential waterways on earth. Roughly 21 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, it channels nearly 20% of the world’s oil trade, functioning as the jugular vein of the global…

Trump announces a three day ceasefire and prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine! · This is a huge step towards ending the war, and I think the situation in Iran has a lot to do with it. · If Trump is able to resolve both of these conflicts before the midterms, the Dems are in serious trouble. Trump is setting himself up to have insanely positive optics heading into November. When Trump end the wars, gas prices will plummet, the critics will…

By Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club · “A new world order must be built to ensure economic justice and equal political security for all nations. An end to the arms race is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of such an order.” · This year marks the 40th anniversary of…

There is something deeply unsettling in the tone of the EU’s current strategic debate. What is presented as prudence increasingly resembles panic. What is framed as “strategic autonomy” often sounds like something else entirely: a loss of confidence, a surge of ideological hostility, and a willingness among declining liberal elites to flirt with the most destructive weapons ever created. By Ladislav Zemánek, non-resident research fellow at…

Ukraine’s most popular format for political content recently seems to be reading aloud invective-laden transcripts of Vladimir Zelensky’s closest political allies scheming about stealing in Russian. The ‘Mindich tapes’ could have serious ramifications for the government, as they purport to implicate Zelensky in unabashed corruption. The root of the escalating graft scandal lies in an investigation that Western-backed Ukrainian law enforcement…

By Alex Krainer · End of Israel? · In the 19 March TrendCompass report, I discussed the damaging effects of Iran war, and the ominous messianic slant of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Israeli society, recalling Henry Kissinger’s 2012 prophecy that in ten years’ time, Israel would no longer exist. This concern has been corroborated by an opinion piece published in the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz on May 1, titled “Netanyahu Will Go, but…

With €90 billion in EU funding expected to flow into Ukraine, questions are now being raised over whether a significant portion of that money is being directed into politically connected private interests. · At the centre of the controversy is Fire Point, a Ukrainian company that reportedly evolved from a film casting agency into one of Ukraine’s largest drone and missile manufacturers following the escalation of the war in 2022. By RT Newsroom…

The United Nations emblem uses a projection map centered on the North Pole. When it was adopted in 1945, the Arctic was strategically irrelevant. Today, that same region has become one of the most contested zones on Earth. By Greg Reese · The geographic centre of that map now aligns with the terrain major global powers are competing to control. · The Arctic becomes the focal point · Russia’s strategic narrative centres on a future where Arctic…

There will be much talk this May about the so-called “strategic triangle” of Russia, China and the United States. · US President Donald Trump is expected in Beijing first, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Whenever the leaders of the three most influential powers meet, speculation inevitably follows. What if they strike some grand bargain? What if the world suddenly becomes more orderly?

By Tarik Cyril Amar, a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory · Sovereignty, as defined in international law, is both crucial and complex. In the real shark-pool world of geopolitics, it is not hard to spot: if you have the ability to rule at home and resist attack from outside (any outside), then you are…