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☆ Putin wanted his own version of NATO. Instead he has a failing alliance that has only made him look weaker since the invasion of Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Putin wanted his own version of NATOPutin has long viewed NATO as a threat to Russia, even citing it as an excuse for his invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also said that CSTO members states' desires for closer ties with the US weren't new. Russian President Vladimir Putin in Armenia in November 2022. Graham also said the invasion of Ukraine meant Putin is less and less able to deal with CSTO members' complaints.

Persons: it's, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Thomas Graham, NATO Putin, Alexander Cooley, Cooley, Armenia's, Nikol Pashinyan, KAREN MINASYAN, Putin's, isn't Putin, Ilya PITALEV, ILYA PITALEV, Getty Images Graham, Russia's, ANATOLII STEPANOV, you've, Graham, CSTO, Sadyr Japarov, Stanislav Zas, Alexander Lukashenko, Kassym, Tokayev, AP Cooley, – Putin, Vladimir Voronin, Nikol, They've, Hayk Organizations: NATO, Service, Soviet Union, Security, Organization, Yale, Columbia University, REUTERS, Getty Images, SPUTNIK, AFP, CSTO, Kazakh, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Collective Security, Vladimir Voronin NATO, Putin, Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, UN, US, EU, Armenian Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Soviet, East, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, The Hague, Netherlands, Yerevan, AFP, Soviet Union, Moscow, Asia, Ukrainian, Oskol, Ukraine's Kharkiv, NATO, USSR, Dushanbe, tatters, Photolure, China, Turkey, United States

☆ Opinion | How Do You Replace an Elite?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

So for Deneen to recoil from both the Boomer and woke versions of elite power and imagine what he terms common-good conservatism in their place is by no means un-American. There are versions of post-liberalism that seem to envision a truly different American regime — a confessional state or a monarchy or an administration of Platonic guardians. But Deneen usually talks more like a small-d democrat, trying to revive his own country’s buried sub-traditions. Crucially, though, Deneen comes to the scene after seven decades in which conservatism’s attempted elite-replacement project has repeatedly and conspicuously failed. So the right of 2023 needs a theory for why, up till now, its elite-replacement effort has been so disappointing.

Persons: Deneen, conservatism’s, thrall, Cornel West, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, James Madison, Ayn Rand Organizations: Cornel West ., soulcraft, Cato Institute

☆ Blinken to travel to China this weekend as US looks to reset relations after spy balloon incident
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing this weekend, the State Department announced on Wednesday – a significant trip that comes as the Biden administration navigates its complicated relationship with China. Blinken was originally set to travel to Beijing in early February, but postponed his trip due to a Chinese spy balloon transiting the US. Blinken will be the first Cabinet official to travel to China under the Biden administration, and the first since 2019. Blinken will ‘advocate strongly’ for military to military communicationsPrior to the public announcement of the trip, Blinken spoke by phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Campbell told reporters that Blinken will “advocate strongly” for the need for appropriate military to military communications.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Biden, Blinken, “, Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, ”, Jake Sullivan, Kritenbrink, Kurt Campbell, Matthew Miller, Xi Jinping, Campbell, Qin Gang, Qin, ” Kritenbrink, ” Campbell, National Defense Li Shangfu, Defense Lloyd Austin, “ We’ve, Mark Swidan, Kai Li, David Lin Organizations: CNN, State Department, State, East Asian, Pacific Affairs, National, “, Foreign, Ministry, China’s, National Defense, Defense Locations: Beijing, China, United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, Singapore

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own, but the Algeria-backed Polisario front demands an independent state there. The NSC's head, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, met Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita on Wednesday, Morocco's foreign ministry said without offering further details. At that meeting, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said: "I hope we will meet very soon in a different desert but with the same spirit." Moroccan media reported a possible plan to reconvene in the Western Sahara town of Dakhla. Holding it in coastal Dakhla could pose a challenge for Washington, which has never followed through on Trump's pledge to open a U.S. consulate in Western Sahara.

Persons: Yair Lapid inaugurates, Moroccan Foreign Ministry Mohcine, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Donald Trump, Tzachi Hanegbi, Nasser Bourita, Eli Cohen, Israel's, Abraham, Dan Williams, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Christina Fincher, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Moroccan Foreign Ministry, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, REUTERS, Wednesday, Western, Reuters, National Security Council, National Security, Israeli, Abraham Accords, Moroccan, Washington, Thomson Locations: Rabat, Morocco, REUTERS JERUSALEM, RABAT, Sahara, Western Sahara, Algeria, Polisario, Israel, statecraft, Moroccan, Spain, NEGEV, Abraham, Dakhla, U.S, Laayoune, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain

☆ Exclusive: G7 summit statement to target China's 'economic coercion'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The main G7 statement is set to include "a section specific to China" with a list of concerns that include "economic coercion and other behavior that we have seen specifically from the [People's Republic of China]," the official said on Friday. A separate "economic security statement will speak more to tools" used to counter coercive efforts from any countries responsible, including planning and coordination, the person said. The joint statement issued by all the G7 leaders every year is intended to signal that the powerful countries are aligned on a range of political and economic issues. CHINA TESTS G7 ALLIANCEThe G7 meeting will be a test of how much the members, all rich democracies, can agree on a common approach to China, the world's second largest economy. Traveling for the G7 finance meeting in Japan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that China had clearly used economic coercion with Australia and Lithuania.

☆ U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Three of China’s state-owned carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd (China Unicom) – had committed funding as members of the consortium, which also included U.S.-based Microsoft Corp and French telecom firm Orange SA, according to six people involved in the deal. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and Orange did not respond to requests for comment. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were resolutely behind HMN Tech, which had come in with a bid of around $500 million. China Telecom and China Mobile threatened to walk off the project, taking tens of millions of dollars of investment with them. Among them is China Telecom, which had previously won authorization to provide services in the United States.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Russian hackers appear to be preparing a renewed wave of cyber attacks against Ukraine, including a "ransomware-style" threat to organizations serving Ukraine's supply lines, a research report by Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Wednesday. The report, authored by the tech giant’s cyber security research and analysis team, outlines a series of new discoveries about how Russian hackers have operated during the Ukraine conflict and what may come next. “Since January 2023, Microsoft has observed Russian cyber threat activity adjusting to boost destructive and intelligence gathering capacity on Ukraine and its partners’ civilian and military assets,” the report reads. Experts say the tactic of combining physical military operations with cyber techniques mirrors prior Russian activity. These developments have been paired with a growth in more stealthy Russian cyber operations designed to directly compromise organizations in countries allied to Ukraine, according to the report.

☆ Saudi Arabia making peace with Iran in a deal brokered by China is a 'middle finger to Biden'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. The US and Saudi Arabia have a close relationship and have been security partners for years. Saudi Arabia ultimately moved to cut oil production instead, which was viewed as a diplomatic embarrassment for the Biden administration and sparked outrage in Congress. Bandar Algaloud/ReutersThe deal also comes as the US contends with historic tensions with both Iran and China. The agreement also has the potential to throw a wrench in efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, given the latter and Iran are longtime enemies.

☆ U.S. weapons sales to get stricter human rights review under Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We are looking at a policy of prevention when there is a risk of violation of human rights," one official said. Biden's administration was criticized last year for approving the potential sale of radars and aircraft to Egypt despite what Human Rights Watch called Egypt's "atrocious human rights record." Reuters reported in 2021 that the Biden administration was considering a CAT policy shift to emphasize human rights. For example, Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opposes the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey for reasons including disregard for human rights. He rolled out a CAT policy in 2018 that gave commercial concerns as much weight as human rights in deciding whether to approve weapons sales.

☆ US leaders who want to send billions more in aid to Ukraine need to ask what kind of war they're willing to pay for
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Andrew C. Jarocki | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The final weeks of the current Congress will feature debate over another aid package for Ukraine. Before opening the checkbook again, lawmakers need to ask how they want this war to end and how more aid will bring it about. Before Washington opens the checkbook again, lawmakers need to subject aid proposals to a simple Petraeus Test. So far, the story of American support of Ukraine against Russia's terrible invasion attempt has been one of unhesitating generosity. At the very least, legislators must push advocates of more aid for Ukraine to explain exactly how America's national security would be enhanced.

A helicopter flies over the downtown skyline, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as seen from the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 20, 2020. ADQ, the smallest of Abu Dhabi's three main sovereign wealth funds, began in 2018 as a vehicle for holding state assets. ADQ and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Among recent deals, ADQ launched a $300 million technology fund in March with Turkey's sovereign wealth fund to invest in venture capital funds and opportunities inside Turkey. "They are the ones that promote UAE economic diplomacy, its regional and global influence," he said.

☆ Too late for a Saudi rethink? Critics say oil cut was a predictable blow for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Hyder Abbasi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The cut is also seen as helping Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, finance its war in Ukraine. “It failed both on blood and on oil,” Dr. Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi rights activist, told NBC News Thursday by telephone. Lina Alhathloul / TwitterAs a presidential candidate, Biden made no bones about his stance on the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Shortly after announcing his candidacy, he declared he was going to “cancel the blank check” the Trump administration had given Saudi Arabia during its war in Yemen, in which thousands of people have lost their lives. The U.S. has several options on how it can respond to Saudi Arabia, such as “freezing all arms sales and security cooperation, to withdrawing U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia,” Sheline said.

☆ New poll signals Americans are growing tired of supporting Ukraine as the war against Russia drags on
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new poll suggests Americans are growing weary as the US supports Ukraine in its war against Russia. The poll found that a majority of Americans want the US to pursue diplomatic negotiations to end the war ASAP. "Americans recognize what many in Washington don't: Russia's war in Ukraine is more likely to end at the negotiating table than on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the poll showed that only four-in-10 Americans somewhat or strongly support the US providing aid to Ukraine at current levels if this occurs. The US has provided over $15 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its unprovoked war in late February.

☆ Liz Truss and King Charles III could be the end of the 'United' Kingdom
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Peter Mcloughlin | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

King Charles III and Prime Minister Liz Truss now lead a United Kingdom with profound divisions. However, when this ends with the late queen's funeral Monday, the new heads of state and government, King Charles III and Liz Truss, will be left leading a United Kingdom that is profoundly divided. However, the EU, the Irish government and most nationalists in Northern Ireland oppose any unilateral changes to the treaty. Nationalists, who are growing in numbers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, might see this as the moment to unravel the union. Peter McLoughlin is a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast, where he focuses on contemporary political history in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

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