The greatest danger right now isn’t that Putin has outplayed the West: It’s that he may feel that he has backed himself into a corner. Like many bullies before him, insecurity may tell Putin that because he’s threatened so much violence, he has no choice but to carry it out.
Johnson risks being turfed from office for evading his own lockdown rules, not sinking the UK into the pit of irrelevance.
As traditional forms of cooperation struggle to keep pace with geopolitical and technological transformations, the EU will have to do more to maintain its economic power and technological independence.
Rather than pursuing buzzwords like strategic autonomy, European leaders should balance home-grown initiatives with an openness to trade and investment in a harmonious and comprehensive manner.
It is time to seize the opportunity that has presented itself. The designation of envoys from Armenia and Turkey to work on the normalization of ties between the two countries is promising, as are the prospects of enhanced regional cooperation schemes and the opportunities that new trade routes may offer.
In the current tense climate, Russian President Vladimir Putin knows that he has true friends in the European Union. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is certainly one.
While Orbán’s relationship with Putin may seem to indicate weakness in NATO’s Eastern flank, the Ukraine standoff has actually demonstrated the value of the alliance to Central and Eastern European countries, many of whom have stood firmly in support of the Western response to Russian threats.
It’s leaving the West weaker and divided on the Ukraine crisis.
While Ankara’s activist policy in Southeast Europe has prompted many to see the country as a revisionist power, this is not the case. Turkey is not an external player but very much part of the Balkans, and its foreign policy is a parallel strategy to those of the EU and NATO, rather than a challenge.
With accession talks at an impasse, Turkey and the EU need another way to revitalize their relationship.