Russia’s war in Ukraine has already devastated Ukraine, and the situation could get even worse: Carlo Trezza argues that Russia could, for example, resort to chemical and/or nuclear weapons. To stand up to Russia’s aggression, there are many actions that both NATO and the UN can take to pressure Russia.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is set to fundamentally transform the international order. Mykola Kapitonenko argues that the Kremlin’s miscalculations could prove devastating not only for Russia but for international security as a whole, and he offers some suggestions as to how these global ramifications could be eased.
Following Russia’s military action, the United States will sooner or later turn back to its “Pivot to Asia” due to China’s challenge to its global primacy, leaving the EU to deal with Russia relatively alone. The EU finds itself at a turning point in its history where it needs to take decisive steps towards building a comprehensive security and defence strategy, writes Iren Marinova.
Putin underestimated Western unity and the scope of Western reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, write Üzümcü, Ceylan and İldem. However, they note that had such an invasion occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency, the Western reaction may have been quite different.
Lord Michael Ashcroft reports that a recent survey by Lord Ashcroft Polls in Russia shows that most Russians back the invasion of Ukraine and support certain Kremlin narratives — but they don’t claim all of it.
As the UK strongly supports Ukraine against attack, Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia this week raised the question “what about Yemen?”. The two wars are very different, politically and legally, but the Yemen war has important lessons about how an invasion can also harm the invader, writes the ELN’s Impact Director Jane Kinninmont.
Despite diplomatic channels between Russia and Western countries narrowing in the aftermath of the invasion, in early March the US and Russia announced that they would establish a hotline to avoid miscalculation or escalation. Juliette Faure outlines key lessons from the US-Russia deconfliction measures in Syria starting in 2015.
As nuclear weapons make headlines once more, the images and narratives that pervade focus on fear and panic leading to paralysing doom and political stasis. For sustained engagement and real-world change, Elizabeth Talerman and Shazeeda Bhola from The Nucleus Group write that a fundamental shift is required in how the nuclear conversation is framed — invoking hope instead of fear and identifying solutions and shared ambitions.
Lord Michael Ashcroft reports that a recent survey by Lord Ashcroft Polls in Ukraine shows that Ukrainians wish to stand and fight, and that while most see their future closer to Europe than to Russia, they do not consider the Russian people to be “the enemy.”