United States and Canada

Alexander Dugin: Not even the USA will return South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Georgia

By the Georgian Times

From the Georgian Times: [excerpts of interview with Alexander Dugin, head of the Geopolitical Research Centre of Russia] The present Russian Government is absolutely pragmatic in geopolitical matters. It understands that there is a war going on between Russia and the USA over the post-Soviet countries. Rusia will support countries which reject closer ties with […]

NATO secretary general not sure of success in Afghanistan

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti: “Victory in Afghanistan is not guaranteed, and NATO needs to change its strategy in the country, the alliance’s secretary general said Monday at a Washington-based think tank. “Despite everything that we have already done, reaching our goal in Afghanistan is not guaranteed,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen told an audience at the Atlantic Council. […]

Unilateralism Thrust Upon Us?

Anne Applebaum presents a provocative question in the Washington Post: Europe might have a new phone number, but when Obama calls, the person on the other end of the line will still be unable to act. “Europe” will not be a unified entity capable of coordinating a unified policy in Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, the […]

NATO and the Nuclear Umbrella

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: As early as 1987, NATO foreign ministers proposed significant reductions of short-range nuclear weapons in their Reykjavik declaration. And 15 years ago, when U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry developed the formula that there is no need and no plan to deploy nuclear weapons to new NATO member states, he correctly […]

Russian NATO Envoy Pours Cold Water on Transdnestr’s Missile Proposal

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti: Russia’s envoy to NATO has poured cold water on an offer by Moldova’s unrecognized republic of Transdnestr to deploy Russian missile defense elements… Russia’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said Transdnestr’s move to deploy Russian Iskander missiles could lead to a serious regional conflict, and added that there could be no talk […]

Moldovan Rebels Offer to Host Russian Missiles

By Reuters

From Reuters: Moldova’s rebel region of Transdniestria said on Monday it was ready to host Russian tactical missiles if the Kremlin were to ask, escalating growing tensions about defence between Moscow and Washington. NATO and European Union member Romania, which borders Moldova, this month approved a U.S. plan to deploy interceptor missiles which Washington says […]

Russia Seeks Quid Pro Quo to Rein Iran In

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: I talked to an international security and nuclear arms expert who spent most of a recent week speaking to Russian counterparts. He said there wasn’t a conversation that didn’t begin without a Russian’s saying something like, “The important thing these days is for NATO to make clear it is not […]

Russia’s NATO Envoy: Twit or Twitter?

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: Normally the formality of European diplomacy would be shattered if, say, an ambassador suggested that his country might kick its opponents’ posterior. But when the remark comes from Dmitri O. Rogozin, Russia’s bombastic ambassador to NATO, it tends to elicit at most a cringe. Even so, when Mr. Rogozin took […]