Eurasia

( Tomdispatch.com) – From the ashes of a world war that killed 80 million people and reduced great cities to smoking rubble, America rose like a Titan of Greek legend, unharmed and armed with extraordinary military and economic power, to govern the globe. During four years of combat against the Axis leaders in Berlin and […]

China

Why the world should take Notice as Saudi Arabia joins Chinese Alliance – and how this relates to Taiwan

The Conversation

By Andrew MacLeod, King’s College London | – (The Conversation) – Saudi Arabia’s cabinet recently approved the decision to join the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This could be a signal that Riyadh, with all its energy reserves, is choosing sides in the Ukraine war. Saudi Arabia, in part stung by US president Joe Biden’s […]

Eurasia

Those Iranian Planes Ferrying Drones to Moscow Flew over Georgia: But who gave Permission?

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Nadia Beard | – ( RFE/ RL) – TBILISI — Georgia’s position on the war in Ukraine has again come under domestic scrutiny after three Iran Air Cargo planes allegedly carrying drones to Russia passed through Georgian airspace. Over the last few days, Georgian opposition figures have called for answers from the government, accusing […]

India

Ukraine War Fallout: Russia and Iran Plot Alternative Gulf Trade Route to Avoid US Sanctions

Gilbert Achcar

By Gilbert Achkar | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Naturally, one of the consequences of the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia is to stimulate the latter’s search for ways to bypass the restrictions. Since the actions taken by Western countries to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and its first […]

Afghanistan

Central Asian Stans Fear Afghan Militancy while their Russian Ally is Bogged down in Ukraine

Global Voices

By Zhar Zardykhan | – Read this post in Malagasy ( GlobalVoices.org) – On May 8, 2022, the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan reported that they are investigating Islamic State (IS) rockets attack on Tajikistan from Afghanistan’s Takhar Province, as IS admitted firing eight rockets on May 7 towards “unspecified military targets in Tajikistan.” In reaction, […]

Arab World

Climate Crisis: Middle East is Heating up Twice as Fast as Global Average

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Christoph Duenwald et al. at the International Monetary Fund have a new report out that finds that temperatures in the Middle East and Central Asia have already risen by 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over the past century, at a rate twice as fast as that of the rest of the […]

Central Asia

Eurasia’s Ring of Fire: The Epic Struggle over the Epicenter of U.S. Global Power

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Throughout 2021, Americans were absorbed in arguments over mask mandates, school closings, and the meaning of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, geopolitical hot spots were erupting across Eurasia, forming a veritable ring of fire around that vast land mass. Let’s circle that continent to visit just a few […]

Armenia

After Thirty Years, are Turkey and Armenia really Ready to Normalize Relations?

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( GlobalVoices.org) – Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during the first Karabakh war in a show of solidarity with its long-time ally Azerbaijan. Almost three decades later, Turkey is considering reopening that border in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s victory in the second Karabakh war in 2020. During […]

Afghanistan

Are the Taliban Russia’s Problem now? Moscow Rushes to Arm Tajikistan

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Tensions rise between the Taliban – the de facto rulers of Afghanistan – and neighboring Russia-backed Tajikistan. The radical group accuses the former Soviet republic of interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, and is deploying fighters on the Afghan – Tajik border, while Moscow keeps providing military equipment to its […]