The slow dance between Minsk and Brussels

The crisis in Ukraine is making Belarus more dependent on Russia. But it has also made the Belarusian leadership keener to balance its close ties to Moscow with a warmer relationship with Brussels.



Most Europeans think little about Belarus, a country of ten million people that nestles between Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. It has been politically stable for a long time: Alexander Lukashenko was first elected to the presidency in 1994, and is virtually certain to win the next presidential election, in November. But even though the authoritarian political system seems immutable, the economy and the foreign policy may be less so. The EU needs to wake up to the geopolitical opportunities that could arise in Belarus.

Coming to Terms With the American Empire

"Empire" is a dirty word. Considering the behavior of many empires, that is not unreasonable. But empire is also simply a description of a condition, many times unplanned and rarely intended. It is a condition that arises from a massive imbalance of power. Indeed, the empires created on purpose, such as Napoleonic France and Nazi Germany, have rarely lasted. Most empires do not plan to become one. They become one and then realize what they are. Sometimes they do not realize what they are for a long time, and that failure to see reality can have massive consequences.

Not in front of the MPs: Why can’t Parliament have a frank discussion about the EU?

Britain’s Parliament does a poor job of examining EU business. Some simple reforms would improve the way that it scrutinises European legislation.



The British prime minister, David Cameron, wants to make the EU more democratic. National parliamentarians, in his view, understand citizens’ concerns better than MEPs who deliberate in far-away Brussels and Strasbourg; national parliaments should therefore play a greater role in EU decision-making. However, Cameron’s argument would carry more weight if UK parliamentary scrutiny were improved.

Η εναλλακτική της Αλγερίας

Εκπαιδευόμενοι του στρατού της Αλγερίας σε στρατιωτική ακαδημία κοντά στο Αλγέρι, τον Ιούνιο του 2012. (Reuters / Ramzi Boudina)

Οι αναταραχές της Αραβικής Άνοιξης φάνηκε να προσπέρασαν μια χώρα: Την Αλγερία. Στα ανατολικά της, η Λιβύη ξέσπασε σε εμφύλιο πόλεμο, ενώ η Τυνησία υπέστη ένα κύμα τρομοκρατίας που έθεσε σε κίνδυνο την δημοκρατική μεταστροφή της και την οικονομική της ανάκαμψη. Προς τα νότια, το Μάλι μένει ακόμα ενωμένο, αν και μόλις μετά βίας, χάρη σε μια γαλλική δύναμη σταθεροποίησης. Όλο αυτό το διάστημα, όμως, η Αλγερία έχει παραμείνει ένα αξιόπιστο προπύργιο -αν και αποτελεί επίσης ένα είδος αινίγματος.

Is Iran Overstretched in Syria?

For the majority of Arabs, Syria symbolizes all that is wrong with Iranian influence in the Middle East. Since 2011, Tehran and its regional proxies have poured men, money, and weapons into Syria to prevent President Bashar al-Assad’s military defeat. In June 2013, Hezbollah’s intervention in the western city of Qusayr single-handedly turned the tide of the war in Assad’s favor.

Vorsprung durch Grexit

The German political and bureaucratic class is preparing for Grexit, and thinks the risks are containable. Angela Merkel should resist this emerging consensus in Berlin, and make every effort to keep Greece in the euro.



The brinkmanship between Greece and the euro group is entering a decisive phase. Amidst escalating threats – default by Greece, financial cut-off by the eurozone – the most pressing issue is whether Germany would allow a Greek exit from the eurozone, either on purpose (‘Grexit’) or by accident (‘Greccident’). Most of the key decision-makers in Berlin say that unless Greece starts implementing real reforms, it should leave the euro. But Chancellor Angela Merkel needs to consider the geopolitical dimension, as well as pressure from the US and the ECB to keep Greece in – in addition to the unwillingness of the Greek people to leave. For Europe’s sake, she should go the extra mile to avoid Greece departing the eurozone. But the odds of Grexit happening are rising.

Why Russia Will Send More Troops to Central Asia

Russia is making a concerted effort to increase its military and security presence throughout Central Asia, just not for the reasons it would have you think. Though the Kremlin is concerned with the threat of spillover violence from Islamist militancy in Afghanistan — its purported motive for deploying more troops — it is far more alarmed by what it sees as Chinese and Western encroachment into lands over which it has long held sway. It is this concern that will shape Moscow's behavior in Central Asia in the years to come.

Υπερ-αεροπλανοφόρο για το ρωσικό ναυτικό. Αμφιβολίες για το κατά πόσον κάτι τέτοιο είναι εφικτό από τη Δύση

Σχέδια για τη ναυπήγηση ενός «supercarrier» - υπεραεροπλανοφόρου, όπως αυτά του αμερικανικού πολεμικού ναυτικού- ανακοίνωσε ο επικεφαλής του ρωσικού ναυτικού, το οποίο θα υπερβαίνει τους 85.000 τόνους, ωστόσο, σύμφωνα με δημοσίευμα του Jane's, οι ισχυρισμοί του ναυάρχου Βίκτορ Τσίρκοφ έχουν γίνει δεκτοί με σκεπτικισμό από αναλυτές, τόσο από τη Δύση όσο και από την Ανατολή.

Πολλοί είναι αυτοί που εκφράζουν αμφιβολίες όσον αφορά στο πόσο ρεαλιστικό θα ήταν κάτι τέτοιο, δεδομένης της παρούσας κατάστασης της ρωσικής ναυπηγικής βιομηχανίας και της αμυντικής βιομηχανίας της χώρας εν γένει. 

Top 4 Energy Innovations On The Horizon

Innovation is anything but business as usual. From driving an ordinary fuel guzzling car to a fuel efficient hybrid sedan, we have come a long way in our quest to achieve something better. In this never ending search for perfection, how can the oil and gas industry remain far behind? In the last few years, there have been some remarkable technological innovations that have the capability of changing the global oil and gas scenario. Some of these innovations, if implemented successfully, even have the capability of altering the current global geopolitical landscape.

Who’s Going to Save Turkey’s Economy?

For most of the past decade, Turkey’s economy has enjoyed remarkable success. Between 2002 and 2006, during the first term of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), growth averaged 7.2 percent per year, making Turkey a star performer in an otherwise difficult region. This economic growth story significantly benefited the AKP, helping it to win three consecutive parliamentary elections (in 2002, 2007, and 2011) with overwhelming majorities.