Moldova’s Foreign Policy after 2024 Presidential Elections: Staying on the EU Path, Moving Eastwards or Becoming Multi-vector?
The future of Moldova’s foreign agenda will undergo a stress test during the upcoming presidential elections on October 20, 2024.
Global Financial Shifts: The Impact of Dollar Sanctions and Frozen Russian Assets
An interview with Brad Setser, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow (Council on Foreign Relations) led at Ifri on September 24, 2024.
Dollar-based financial sanctions have been increasing, particularly since the beginning of the century. Is this phenomenon likely to significantly alter the international role of the dollar?
There is a lot of controversy about the in which way frozen assets from Russia’s central bank should be treated, regarding both the assets themselves and the associated revenues. What consequences do you foresee for the international financial system?
Towards a European Nuclear Deterrent
While major European powers may have to contemplate nuclear deterrence without America, the national flexibility and European financial support required to make it feasible is currently difficult to imagine.
Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects
Written by Dimitri Minic, the scientific article "Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects" in Russia’s war against Ukraine: Complexity of Contemporary Clausewitzian War by the National Defence University Department of Warfare, Helsinki 2024.
Russia and the New BRICS Countries: Potentials and Limitations of a Scientific and Technological Cooperation
At the fifteenth BRICS summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023, a resolution was adopted to extend an invitation to six new countries to join the organization: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All of these countries except Argentina duly became members of BRICS in 2024, with the expanded group known as BRICS+. In addition to the political and economic advantages, it is assumed that the incorporation of these new countries could potentially facilitate their scientific and technological development.
The South Caucasus: A New Strategic Space?
The states of the South Caucasus are trying to find their footing in an increasingly fragmented international landscape.
Russia in the Arctic: The End of Illusions and the Emergence of Strategic Realignments
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered profound changes in the Arctic region, the consequences of which remain uncertain in the long term.
Ditching U.S. Nuclear Protection in Europe: Will It Trigger a Nuclear Arms Race?
What if France takes over the U.S. role in providing nuclear deterrence for Europe? What happens to U.S. nuclear weapons stationed on the European continent? Could France’s increased nuclear security role lead to proliferation and a new arms race? Join us as we delve into European nuclear security, the Iranian nuclear program, and the roles of Russia and China in supporting Iran.
A Splintered Internet? Internet Fragmentation and the Strategies of China, Russia, India and the European Union
From the Covid-19 pandemic to the ramifications of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, international events are fueling fears of an accelerated fragmentation of the global Internet.
Between Aspiration and Reality: Russia in the World (Dis)order
The world has rarely seemed more disorderly than it is today. But in this anarchic environment, some things are constant.
Moldova’s Foreign Policy after 2024 Presidential Elections: Staying on the EU Path, Moving Eastwards or Becoming Multi-vector?
The future of Moldova’s foreign agenda will undergo a stress test during the upcoming presidential elections on October 20, 2024.
Towards a European Nuclear Deterrent
While major European powers may have to contemplate nuclear deterrence without America, the national flexibility and European financial support required to make it feasible is currently difficult to imagine.
Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects
Written by Dimitri Minic, the scientific article "Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects" in Russia’s war against Ukraine: Complexity of Contemporary Clausewitzian War by the National Defence University Department of Warfare, Helsinki 2024.
Russia and the New BRICS Countries: Potentials and Limitations of a Scientific and Technological Cooperation
At the fifteenth BRICS summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023, a resolution was adopted to extend an invitation to six new countries to join the organization: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All of these countries except Argentina duly became members of BRICS in 2024, with the expanded group known as BRICS+. In addition to the political and economic advantages, it is assumed that the incorporation of these new countries could potentially facilitate their scientific and technological development.
The South Caucasus: A New Strategic Space?
The states of the South Caucasus are trying to find their footing in an increasingly fragmented international landscape.
Russia in the Arctic: The End of Illusions and the Emergence of Strategic Realignments
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered profound changes in the Arctic region, the consequences of which remain uncertain in the long term.
The New Russian Diaspora: Europe’s Challenge and Opportunity
This report assesses both the scale and the roots of the outward migration from the Russian Federation coinciding with Putin’s turning of Russia into an aggressive authoritarian state.
India-Russia Relations in Troubled Times: Steady but Stagnating
This paper examines the trajectory of India-Russia relations post-February 2022. The war in Ukraine emerged as a significant challenge for bilateral ties, presenting new obstacles to political and diplomatic relations and intensifying the previous difficulties in developing economic cooperation.
The Future of Nuclear Proliferation after the War in Ukraine
In the context of deep changes to the international security environment, especially the war in Ukraine, the risks of nuclear proliferation seem quite high, especially in the Middle East and East Asia.
The Next Surge of Conflict in the South Caucasus Is Still Preventable
The tragic exodus of the Armenian population from the Nagorno Karabakh region has closed a chapter in the long saga of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In Putin's wartime Russia, military corruption is suddenly taboo
To be sure government spending reaches the battlefield in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin is suddenly putting high priority on purging Defense Ministry officials accused of corruption. Russia's war in Ukraine has turned out to be a powerful anti-corruption initiative — at least at the Ministry of Defense.
Dimitri Minic: 'The Kremlin's credibility has been shaken'
For this Russian army specialist, at least part of the armed forces rallying behind the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, cannot be ruled out.
Dimitri Minic: 'The Russian army is influenced by beliefs that detaches it from objective reality'
According to the researcher, the failure of the Russian army in Ukraine is the result of the implementation of a theory that emerged in the 2000s, which places a central focus on 'psychological-informational' warfare rather than armed combat.
Macron pirouettes on Russia to the strains of ‘Churchill and Chamberlain’
President Emmanuel Macron’s nuanced position on the war in Ukraine is part and parcel of yet another French specificity, an attitude towards Russia which is unique in Europe. Macron prides himself on being a moderate among western warmongers.
How will it end? No easy answers over Russia's war on Ukraine
The Kremlin wanted Russia's invasion of Ukraine to yield a lightning victory, but 12 months on the war is dragging into a stalemate with neither side achieving military breakthrough nor prepared to agree a settlement based on the status quo.
What Macron's 'Security Guarantees' Mean for Ukraine War
Ukraine is facing a grim festive period. Civilians are hunkered down in below-freezing conditions with periodic power as Russian missiles and drones continue Moscow's punishing infrastructure offensive. Ukrainian troops, bogged down by mud, are still pushing forwards gradually in the south and northeast, while defenders around Bakhmut are locked in hellish combat with Russian regulars and mercenaries.
Global Focus: Has the War in Ukraine United Europe?
Does the war in Ukraine change the prospect of European Union enlargement? What is the possibility and future of Europe's common foreign and security policy? Does russian aggression unite or unify Europe and what is the role of the European political community? What is Russia's ultimate strategic goal?
Military briefing: How will Russia’s mobilisation affect the war in Ukraine?
Kyiv expects new recruits to appear within two months but Moscow struggles with training and logistical obstacles.
Russian army hobbled by shortage of soldiers
Following the last Ukrainian victories over the Russian Army in the Kharkiv oblast, Russian administration currently faces controversies. As a matter of fact, many question the degree of intensity Russian general staff has decided, avoiding for now general mobilization. According to Dimitri Minic, researcher attached to the Russia / NIS center at the French Institutes of International Relations and expert in russian armed forces, the current russian army not only lacks men but also modern equipment.
C.Africa's Leap Into Bitcoin Leaves Its People Bemused
In the Central African Republic (CAR), nine out of 10 people do not have internet, and only one in seven has electricity -- that is, when there are no power cuts.
Yet the CAR has just followed El Salvador in adopting bitcoin as legal tender, a currency that requires access to the net to be bought, sold or used.
Global Financial Shifts: The Impact of Dollar Sanctions and Frozen Russian Assets
An interview with Brad Setser, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow (Council on Foreign Relations) led at Ifri on September 24, 2024.
Dollar-based financial sanctions have been increasing, particularly since the beginning of the century. Is this phenomenon likely to significantly alter the international role of the dollar?
There is a lot of controversy about the in which way frozen assets from Russia’s central bank should be treated, regarding both the assets themselves and the associated revenues. What consequences do you foresee for the international financial system?
Ditching U.S. Nuclear Protection in Europe: Will It Trigger a Nuclear Arms Race?
What if France takes over the U.S. role in providing nuclear deterrence for Europe? What happens to U.S. nuclear weapons stationed on the European continent? Could France’s increased nuclear security role lead to proliferation and a new arms race? Join us as we delve into European nuclear security, the Iranian nuclear program, and the roles of Russia and China in supporting Iran.
Strategic stability: what future in the context of confrontation between Moscow and Washington?
An interview with Andrey KORTUNOV, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
Russia and Information Warfare: Aims, Tools and Implications for the West - Keir Giles
How can the West counter Russia's cyber and psychological operations? Can we talk about a "militarization" of information in Russia?
Russia and Information Warfare: Aims, Tools and Implications for the West
How can the West counter Russia's cyber and psychological operations? Can we talk about a "militarization" of information in Russia?
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