The well-known British historian and author of books on Soviet diplomatic and military history, Professor Geoffrey Roberts wrote a letter to the FT two days ago arguing for a reset of the US’ relationship with Russia by the Joe Biden presidency. It came as a breath of fresh air amidst […]
Iran
France Challenges Russian Peacekeeping In Caucasus
The trilateral agreement on November 10 between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia over Nagorno-Karabakh is leading to a geopolitical struggle in the Caucasus. So long as Armenia and Azerbaijan were ferociously fighting, the great game lurked in the shade. But no sooner than the seven-week old conflict reached a climax — […]
Historical Undercurrents In Nagorno-Karabakh
The analysts focusing on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis through the prism of regional politics fail to factor in that the Caucasus comprises ancient peoples. The Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted this in remarks to the media in Moscow yesterday when he brushed aside the perception that Moscow could be harbouring a […]
A Dedicated Obsession: Washington’s Continuing Iran Sanctions Regime
One dogma that is likely to persist in US foreign policy during a Biden presidency will be the sanctions regime adopted towards Iran. Every messianic state craves clearly scripted enemies, and the demonology about the Islamic Republic is not going to go begging. Elliot Abrahams, the current US special representative […]
Iran Has A Plan For Nagorno-Karabakh
Iran has unveiled a regional initiative to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Tehran in the weekend after a regional tour to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey to discuss the peace plan. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has since explained Tehran’s thinking. A report in the […]
Trusted Demonologies: US Electoral Interference, The Proud Boys And Iran
Iran, Russia and electoral interference. It is all part of the delicious mess that any observer of US politics has come to expect. Were the US body politic capable of being examined on the clinician’s couch, historical fears, psychic disturbances, and a range of unsettling syndromes would be identified. The […]
From Hegemony To Hedgemony
The RAND corporation has unveiled a unique defence planning and response project called “Hedgemony”. As is clear from the name, it is a play on the words “hegemony” and “hedging”, i.e. managing and insuring against risk. “Hedgemony. A Game of Strategic Choices” is a practical tool that RAND researchers have […]
The Time Of Troubles In Transcaucasia (I)
Three days into the renewed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the Transcaucasian region — also known as South Caucasus — it is becoming clear that the binary narrative dished out by western commentators of this being a Turkish-Russian clash of wills and strategies is either simply naive or purposively deceptive. The […]
Iranian Geostrategic Calculations In The Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis
Iran has an extremely rare opportunity to greatly improve its regional reputation by offering to host peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to replace the failed OSCE Minsk Process, though it might experience intense Russian resistance if it opts for this course of action unless Tehran can convince Moscow that […]
Russia Has Key Role To Play In Iran Issue
In what must be one of his sharpest rhetorical outbursts against the Trump administration, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Saturday of “savagery” for inflicting $150 billion of damage on Iran due to sanctions. In televised remarks, his voice shaking with anger, Rouhani said, “With their illegal […]
Trump Sets The Israeli Cat Among Arab Pigeons
The US President Donald Trump’s legacy in the Middle East is going to be that he scattered the region’s Arab unity once and for all. What the successive waves of Cold War, oil, petrodollar, terrorism, political Islam or the Arab Spring couldn’t achieve, Trump managed in less than 3 years. […]
Iran “Snapback” Sanctions Is A Pantomime: Spectacle To Watch Is Trump-Putin Summit
As expected, the Trump Administration delivered letters on Thursday to both the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and to the president of the Security Council Dian Triansyah Djani notifying them that the United States is initiating the restoration of virtually all UN sanctions on Iran lifted under UN Security Council Resolution […]
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