Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The first détente in the hybrid war between Russia and the West was nipped in the bud by Trump’s behavior and the vehemence of his domestic critics. So be it.
There are several takeaways from Helsinki that may go well beyond temporary headlines in the 24/7 news cycle.
Never before has a U.S. president so willfully catered to an American adversary and so effortlessly sacrificed American values and interests as the entire world watched.
The consensus on economic globalisation and a relative harmony among the major powers—which defined the post Cold War era—is now breaking down.
President Trump’s performance at his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin could scarcely have been more favorable to Putin or more threatening to the security of U.S. democracy.
Putin can only delight in how Trump is doing the Kremlin’s work by sowing discord in the West. Who would have imagined that an American president would have done Russia’s bidding?
Any agreement that results in rapprochement with the West may provide some economic growth from sanctions relief, but it may also shift balance of power within the Russian political establishment from the powerful hawks to the system’s liberals.
A conciliatory approach with Russia has not worked out for the past three U.S. presidents or a long list of European leaders, and it likely won’t for Trump either.
Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest since the end of the Cold War. President Trump just demonstrated at the recent NATO summit, he is more focused on the “me”, and this meeting in Helsinki might more narrowly benefit him and align his preferences.
As Trump prepares to meet Vladimir Putin, there is no sign that he has absorbed the lessons of multiple rounds of Western sanctions against Russia since 2014.
By excluding the Muslims from the defense of the nation, the state has undermined the project of a multicultural India enshrined in the Constitution and prepared the ground for the saffronisation of the public sphere.
The chances of Britain staying in the European Union have risen sharply following two resignations from the cabinet of UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
The Trump administration has almost no chance of getting North Korea’s complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization. But peace and security on the Korean peninsula is possible if Trump is willing to adjust to the reality that America will have to live with a nuclear North Korea.
Mexican President-elect Andres López Obrador’s landslide victory was a huge success for his coalition, gaining control of most of the state legislatures. It has been decades since any Mexican government has had this level of political control.
Some White House advisors see trade deficits as a threat to growth and security. But no one wins in a trade war, certainly not U.S. and Chinese consumers who will have to pay higher prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump may undo any progress NATO leaders achieve at the 2018 NATO summit when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
New Delhi and Seoul should focus on building flexible middle power coalitions in Asia to limit the impact of the current volatility in the relations between the United States and China.
Despite his own destructive tendencies, the U.S. President may well prove to be the catalyst NATO and the EU need. The two organizations are starting to confront the reality of a post-Atlantic era.
There are many lessons to be drawn from the darker days of India’s political history. The one that ought to be demystified is the view that the suspension or promotion of democracy necessarily stuns or shocks international leaders to the extent that those in India might expect them to.
Chinese capital originally destined for the United States switches to the European continent, making transatlantic collaboration more essential.