Articles from ‘Independent News Roundup’ in ‘Analysis’

The recent summit between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping sent another wave of panic through Western political and media circles. On both sides of the Atlantic, the growing partnership between Russia and China is habitually described as an authoritarian alliance plotting against the ‘free world’. Headlines drip with warnings about a new anti-Western axis. Think tanks speak in apocalyptic tones. Liberal commentators invoke a new Cold War. By…

Why has Ukraine become one of the most strategically important battlegrounds on Earth? Conventional explanations frame the conflict as a struggle between Russia and NATO, a contest over territory, or a broader confrontation between East and West. Based on a presentation by Church of the Eternal Logos · Church of the Eternal Logos presents a very different interpretation. · According to the presentation, Ukraine's importance extends far beyond…

On May 20, 2019, Ukrainians were cheering the inauguration of Vladimir Zelensky, a political outsider who won the presidential election in a landslide on a promise to chart a path different from previous national leaders, who had been elitist, corrupt and divisive. Zelensky promised sweeping changes, which he vowed to bring at the possible cost of his political career. In practice, he is now clinging to power under martial law, as his closest…

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China came only days after Donald Trump's own high-profile meetings in Beijing, leading some analysts to suggest a new “great triangle” is forming among the world's largest powers. 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. · However,…

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has confirmed that her team is investigating more than 40 US-funded pathogen laboratories in Ukraine. Here’s what you need to know about the story that was written off as “Kremlin propaganda” in 2022 In a statement to the New York Post on Tuesday, Gabbard said that her department had identified more than 120 biological laboratories in 30 countries that had been funded by the US taxpayer for…

Rudyard Kipling, a modern classic of the Western literary canon, was both a champion of British imperialism and too honest not to know its very sordid underpinnings of greed, lies, and sheer selfishness. 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 · That’s why the same man who extolled the…

By Clandestine · I think we are witnessing the dawn of a new world. · Xi speaks highly of Trump and his vision to Make America Great Again, and says that the modernization and rejuvenation of China can be done “hand in hand” with the US, and we can work together to make the world a better place. · What if Trump and Xi agreed it was time to end the hostilities and treat each other as partners instead of adversaries on a collision course for war?…

US President Donald Trump’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was heavy on pomp, praise, and promises. But what did both leaders walk away with after the superpower summit in Beijing? Trump left Beijing on Friday, two days after becoming the first US president to visit the Chinese capital in almost a decade. The trip took place amid two paused conflicts — Trump’s trade war with Beijing and his real war against Iran — which…

The US and Israeli attack on Iran in February and their subsequent failure to achieve their objectives has already changed the strategic calculations of every major power. In some respects, it has also opened new opportunities for political dialogue. Seizing those opportunities would benefit international politics as a whole. By Timofey Bordachev, Program Director of the Valdai Club · The Middle East has always been one of the most unstable…

US President Donald Trump’s arrival in China this week is being treated as far more than another diplomatic photo opportunity. · Relations between Washington and Beijing remain tense, competition between the two powers stretches across almost every domain, and yet both sides appear increasingly aware that uncontrolled confrontation would carry enormous costs. Against that backdrop, the prospect of a broader geopolitical bargain is once again…