On September 13, 2017, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his annual State of the Union address before the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The address prompted significant reaction both within the EU and far beyond its borders.
French President Emmanuel Macron will not attempt to pressure US President Donald Trump into any difficult situation, as his goal is to make the best of a difficult situation.
The article reveals causes of the social protest and the emergence of qualitatively new components in relationship between the elite and society.
If elites continue to encourage the racist demagogues of the right, they will live in societies fundamentally transformed beyond their control. Where unpredictable authoritarian leaders take power, elites can lose their liberties and ultimately even their wealth.
The only strategic response to the global water challenge and international competition for water would be to improve water use efficiency by redistributing water intakes and introducing new water use technologies. Importantly, these measures do not require redistributing water flows among countries.
Russia’s active involvement in the Syrian conflict and, specifically, employment of its Caspian Flotilla for destroying Islamic State targets, has changed the balance of power in the Caspian region significantly, and highlighted the need to re-examine its legal status and security.
The global domination in setting ecological standards has been gradually drifting towards the United States. The U.S., in contrast to the EU, is prepared to employ this tool not just to bolster its own image, but also to dictate rules to the global economy.
BRICS offers Russia a chance to steer clear of the whirlpool of economic and political problems with self-respect intact and international weight increased thanks to the solution of global challenges. BRICS’ field of activity is enormous.
Fukushima has demonstrated that the days when a country hit by a nuclear accident deals with the consequences on its own are gone. The internationalization of challenges facing the world nuclear power industry requires that the nuclear community internationalize the response – the more so in security matters and, in particular, in such emergencies as nuclear accidents.
Political ecology is an extremely interesting and promising area of research – both theoretical and applied. However, further probes are required, that would make it possible to move on from the accumulation of empirical data to the required level of theorizing, and also to devise a comprehensive strategy for the state to follow in practice. Delays in this field would keep Russia in a second-rate position in the world for decades to come.
Russian geopolitics of the 21st century will be different from the days of empire and conflict of the nineteenth and twentieth. The increased accessibility of the Arctic, with its energy and mineral resources, new fisheries, shortened sea routes and shipping along the rivers between the Arctic coast and the Eurasian heartland, is both enabling and propelling Russia to become a major maritime state.
Starting from the mid-19th century, Chinese competition has been a perennial and incessantly pressing issue for Russian tradesmen and manufacturers in the Russian Far East region. But not much has been done in practical terms to sort out its essence, and, as years pass by, it is getting more and more complicated and obscure.
The shortage of manpower will force Russia to revise its immigration policy. Russia will have to resort to international experience in this complex issue and look for creative solutions. Moscow’s future immigration policy must stimulate the Chinese to come to Russia for employment.
In spite of all of its risks and challenges, immigration offers Russia a chance to survive and to carry out a kind of peaceful expansion. A strategy of diehard anti-immigration isolationism, on the other hand, will lead it nowhere.
There are no profound grounds for the statement that global oil prices will remain high for an indefinitely long time. Moreover, it looks like the days (or rather years) of oil as a leader among global energy sources are numbered.
Armenia has been in turmoil for the past few days. The fact that the central streets of Yerevan were packed with protesters did nothing to prevent ruling coalition MPs from convening in the National Assembly and voting for the appointment of Serzh Sargsyan as Prime Minister.
Policymakers need to learn from their military subordinates: They should keep their heads cool and think of the consequences of their actions, both intended and unintended.
By the strikes against Syria, the US and their allies achieved demonstrative effect only partially. It was achieved, because like in the previous illegal bombings of sovereign states (Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, etc.), they exhibited their military power, unprecedented arrogance and readiness to completely ignore the international law.
The history of sanctions against Iran deserves close analysis in light of the growing sanctions pressure on Russia. Although Iran and Russia are different countries facing different sanctions paradigms, Iran’s experience is meaningful if only because both countries have to contend with US sanction law.
The emerging trend towards de-dollarization in the EAEU can make domestic monetary policy more efficient as well as facilitate economic integration in the Eurasian space.