Articles from ‘Independent News Roundup’ in ‘Analysis’

BRICS brings together countries with different political systems, competing strategic interests and, in some cases, serious disputes with one another. Yet rather than collapsing under those differences, the grouping continues to expand, raising a bigger question about the emerging world order: can nations cooperate economically and politically without submitting to a dominant power? INR Report: Based on an analysis by Dmitry Trenin for RT,…

Ursula von der Leyen approaches her 2026 State of the Union address with the European Commission exercising an expanding role in defence, migration, borrowing, digital regulation and support for Ukraine. Behind the institutional language lies a larger question: how much power and financial responsibility is moving towards Brussels, and how effectively are those decisions being scrutinised? INR Report: Based on reporting by the RT newsroom in…

Germany has developed an unusual system for financing weapons for Ukraine: German taxpayers provide billions of euros, German officials scrutinise projects, but Ukraine can become the legal purchaser. The arrangement has dramatically accelerated weapons procurement while raising a fundamental question about how transparency and competitive safeguards operate when public money moves outside conventional purchasing structures INR Report: Based on…

The Ukraine war is usually presented as beginning on 24 February 2022: Russia invaded, Ukraine resisted and the West rallied to its defence. But political scientist Ivan Katchanovski argues the real story begins years earlier, with Maidan, the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, Crimea, Donbas and Western intervention. His research raises a far harder question: how many Ukrainians can be sacrificed before defending the country becomes…

Donald Trump’s comments on the Falkland Islands and Irish reunification have raised questions about the future of the US-UK “special relationship”. Andrew Korybko argues the remarks may reflect deeper tensions over Britain’s refusal to join the US in the Third Gulf War, censorship, immigration and shifting NATO priorities. He explores whether Washington could increasingly pressure London over its territorial disputes, or whether Trump’s…

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11, 2001. What followed went far beyond the pursuit of Al-Qaeda, producing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, expanding the global security state, destabilising parts of the Middle East and leaving political consequences that remain visible a quarter of a century later. INR Report: Based on reporting by RT HERE, with additional New Zealand context from official GCSB and US legislative records. · On the…

Educational performance across parts of the developed West has deteriorated substantially over the past 15 years. TrendCompass argues the decline deserves much greater scrutiny, but its provocative suggestion that Western education may be deliberately producing less capable populations goes considerably beyond what the educational data itself establishes. INR Report: Based on analysis published by TrendCompass HERE. · TrendCompass begins with a…

Germany’s political landscape is being reshaped as the Alternative for Germany challenges the established parties and the political barriers constructed around it. Russian analyst Fyodor Lukyanov argues the upheaval reflects something much larger: a growing European struggle over sovereignty, globalisation and whether electoral victories still translate into political power. INR Report: Based on analysis by Fyodor Lukyanov for RT HERE ·…

Russia’s increasingly deliberate use of “Britain” rather than “Great Britain” may sound like diplomatic trolling, but Russian academic Alexander Bobrov argues it reflects something deeper: Moscow’s deteriorating view of London as relations between the two nuclear powers approach what he describes as a dangerous low. His RT opinion also extends the argument beyond Ukraine, portraying Britain as a country that retains considerable international…

Ukraine’s latest corruption investigation is widening beyond the original Energoatom scandal, with investigators examining an alleged scheme to disguise criminal proceeds and use them to fund bail for former minister Herman Galushchenko. Secretly recorded conversations have also raised questions about senior figures inside President Vladimir Zelensky’s administration INR Report: Based on an opinion column by historian Tarik Cyril Amar for RT…