When Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin announced a “no limits friendship” at their February 2022 summit, the message was that Beijing and Moscow had reached a new peak in relations.
War in Ukraine
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 constitutes a major turning point in international relations. Vladimir Putin's strategic goals haven't been achieved and the outcome of the war is uncertain. The risks of escalation – including nuclear – are real and a regional extension of hostilities cannot be ruled out. The consequences of this conflict are already global: reconfiguration of alliances, rising energy prices, growing food insecurity, etc.
The overwhelming majority of the Russian population, having been fed Kremlin propaganda for years, approves of the war in Ukraine.
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.
The Ukrainian resistance should be seen in its long-term context, starting with independence in 1991, and confirmed by the events of 2014.
While Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a decoupling with the West on a scale not seen since the worst years of the Cold War, Russia has not been isolated from the non-Western world and has even reinvested its diplomatic energy toward the Global South.
In response to Russia's illegal attack on Ukraine, EU member states have issued a series of economic sanctions against Russia. This also includes moratoria on certain products, e.g., in the energy sector.
What political spaces make up the Old Continent? This question is at the heart of the Ukrainian conflict.
The “European prospects” of Balkan countries have evolved little since 2003.
The blame for committing the blunder of starting the war with Ukraine is deservedly placed on President Vladimir Putin, but a single-explanation interpretation of the unfolding disaster is unsatisfactory.
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...