Section: The Globalist (USA)
Britain’s Big Brexit Gamble
By Holger Schmieding and Kallum PickeringThis is the worst setback ever for the process of European integration that started with a six-nation coal and steel community in 1952 – but for whom precisely?As the UK has filed for divorce from the European Union, here are 10 key points to keep in mind as the negotiating across the English Channel...
Defense’s Other Mega Spenders
By The GlobalistWho are the 19 nations that spend more on defense as a share of their national economy than even the United States does?1. Among the 171 countries surveyed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2015, 19 spent a higher share of their GDP on defense than the United States’s 3.3%. 2. All of these...
Today’s “Great Game” – Power Politics or Amateur Hour
By Michael J. BrennerAssessing the interests and weaknesses of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran in the Middle East.The “Great Game” being played in the Middle East, with Syria and Iraq as the center rings, bears a superficial similarity to the power political maneuverings of the dominant European states in their African and Asian periphery...
The Booming Global Arms Trade
By Markus HeinrichRemember the “peace dividend”? The world, it seems, can never have enough weapons. The global arms trade has reached its highest point since the end of the Cold War. According to the Swedish-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – which provides authoritative data on global arms production...
Trump’s Plan for the United Soviet(!) of America
By Jean-Francois BoittinTrump is determined to “make the USA great again” — the United Soviet of America, that is. On numerous occasions, candidate – and now President – Trump has expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin, the Russian President’s leadership qualities and his own desire to work with him. Cozying up to Russia...
As Romania Battles Corruption
By Joseph Vann and Valbona ZeneliCorruption is the most underrated international security threat of our time. Every day, major corruption cases are splashing on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Thankfully, corruption is no longer perceived as a “victimless” crime, but as an infringement on the fundamental human right to equal...
Ukraine, the West and a Dead End
By Andreas UmlandWhat the West must do so that a reformed Ukraine can survive in the face of a continuing Russian threat. The continuing Ukrainian reforms and, in particular, slowly returning economic growth have started to demonstrate first real-life effects of Western help to Kyiv. Yet, as long as Ukraine’s security issues remains...
Different Under Trump? Why Russia Grates Americans So Much
By Markus HeinrichThe reemergence of US’s erstwhile counterpart from the bipolar world order is an uncomfortable reminder that the presumed age of American hegemony is history. The era in which the United States reigned supreme, unchallenged in its economic, political and military power, is over. Challenging American power Population...
First Meeting Between Trump and Putin
By Jean-Francois BoittinThe scene takes place in Vladimir Putin’ s office in the Kremlin.President Trump arrives, slightly out of breath. Putin made sure that he walked multiple times over the same corridors of the Kremlin, passing by the cute-looking, straight out of the Nutcracker uniformed guards (Donald Trump, to himself : Make a mental...
Ukraine’s “Success Trap”
By Andreas UmlandWithin five to ten years, Ukraine will be a largely renewed country with less corruption and stronger rule of law than today. But Putin & Co. remain a big risk factor.In contrast to much of the continuously negative reporting from Kyiv that appears in Western media, Ukraine’s political, social and economic reforms are...
