Month: January 2022

Despite the “cautious optimism” surrounding the ongoing U.S.-Russia talks, nothing less than a regional or international security architecture based on the principles of the Treaty of Westphalia will prevent the world from sliding towards a new World War. That was the assessment of participants in the international webcast “A difference in leadership: can war with Russia still be averted?” sponsored […]

On January 22, as the real danger of war over Ukraine between the U.S. and its NATO allies against Russia continued into its second month, with diplomacy thus far falling short of a resolution, the Schiller Institute (SI) convened an online forum during which the speakers provided an in-depth understanding of the crisis and the solutions “from the top”. Helga […]

Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy presented a concise overview of the Russian position in the ongoing talks in his message to the Jan. 22 Schiller Institute online conference. He began on “a cautiously optimistic note. Our dialogue with the U.S., NATO and the OSCE is ongoing…. So, we meet and we talk. I don’t have any doubt that this is a kind […]

Late in the evening of Jan. 22, timed to make the headlines of the Sunday morning media, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom un-embargoed a statement entitled: “Kremlin Plan To Install Pro-Russian Leadership in Ukraine Exposed”. Under that sensationalist headline, it claims that “We have information that indicates the Russian government is looking to install a […]

The media storm which led to the resignation of the head of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, on Jan. 23 is puzzling in many respects. After all, the remarks he made at a confidential meeting on Jan. 21 with Indian diplomats at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) in New Delhi, contained nothing that […]

The upcoming presidential elections in France, to be held on April 10, followed by a run-off between the top two candidates on April 24, are crucial for the future of not only France, but all of Europe and beyond. Emmanuel Macron is still the front-runner by a long shot, but in these tumultuous times and among growing social unrest, nothing […]

Some European car producers, who have realized that the European Commission’s “Green Deal” will seal their fate and that of their clients, have begun to speak out. That is the case of Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, an automaking cartel founded one year ago that produces 15 brands including Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, Fiat, Opel, and Peugeot. In a joint […]

Half a Million Jobs at Risk in Italy. According to the Italian Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CGIA), half a million jobs will be lost in Italy in the first half of 2022, as energy-intensive industries are forced to shut down production due to high energy costs. That figure represents some 30% of all the jobs in sectors such […]

Over the course of Jan-10-14, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate meetings in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province with his visiting counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, as well as with the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), followed by two other meetings with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran. In reviewing the results […]

At the heart of the growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine is the demand by President Putin that the U.S. and NATO sign legally binding treaties which guarantee Russia’s security. This is not a new issue, but goes back to talks in February 1990, when then U.S. Secretary of State Baker promised there would be no eastward […]