Etiket arşivi: NATO

2025: A Year of Disappointments                

December 15, 2025

In two weeks, the year 2025 will be behind us. The end of a year is a moment of reflection on the achievements, disappointments, and failures of the past twelve months and whether different paths could have been taken. In international relations, those who choose between “new chapters” and “the same old story” are world leaders, primarily among them the leaders of major powers. And “new chapters” are not easy to start writing.

Okumaya devam et

Trump’s 28-point Ukraine-Russia Peace Plan

November 22, 2025

President Trump’s 28-point Ukraine-Russia peace plan is now public knowledge, making it clear that since the August 15, 2025, Alaska summit, Washington and Moscow have remained engaged in behind-closed-doors diplomatic talks, working on the details of a peace deal, the basic parameters of which were agreed upon during that meeting.[i]

Okumaya devam et

Defining Days for Ukraine and Russia-West Relations

August 19, 2025

Over the past month, the world has remained focused on what was likely to prove the climactic episode of the Russia-Ukraine war.

In early July, President Donald Trump issued his harshest criticism of President Putin, stating that Washington was restarting its arms shipments to Ukraine to respond to Russian attacks on civilians. In the following days, he said, “We’re very unhappy with Russia and we’ll be doing very severe tariffs, at about 100%.” Then, Mr. Trump gave Russia a 50-day deadline for a ceasefire.

Okumaya devam et

President Trump’s Fifty-Day “Ultimatum”

July 21, 2025

After six months in office in his second term, the world has become accustomed to President Trump’s surprising changes of direction. Thus, his recent turnabout on the war in Ukraine and his relationship with President Putin, following their call on July 3, has not come as a stunner.

Okumaya devam et

NATO’s Washington Summit

July 15, 2024

In a post two weeks ago, I said that an assessment of NATO’s past 75 years must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and a second one on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. I concluded that the first chapter is a success story, the second an entirely different one.

Okumaya devam et

NATO’s 75th Anniversary

July 3, 2024

As the NATO Heads of State meetings start in Washington next week, many will look at the past and evaluate the Alliance’s performance in the past 75 years. In my view, such an assessment must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, and a second on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. In my view, the first is a success story, the second an entirely different one as I will elaborate at the end.

Okumaya devam et

Russia, China, and the War in Gaza

January 25, 2024

On October 7, 2023, a comment by Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the conflict, which has continued for 75 years, cannot be resolved by force and can be settled exclusively by political and diplomatic means, by engaging in a full-fledged negotiation process based on the well-known international legal framework stipulating the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem that co-exists with Israel in peace and security.

Okumaya devam et

Looking Back at the Year 2023

December 18, 2023

For most of the past year, the war in Ukraine and Washington’s strategic competition with China dominated the global agenda. Then came the October 7 Hamas onslaught against Israel creating yet another maelstrom of uncertainty for the Middle East and beyond, leading me to say in an earlier post that at present Washington and its European allies are neither at war nor in peace. Today, Western countries do not have troops on the ground fighting in Ukraine, but they are deeply involved in the conflict providing Kyiv with huge sums of military assistance and military advice. They are not at war with Hamas, but they are politically involved. In brief, one may say with some exaggeration, that today Washington and its European allies are fighting a one-and-a-half war.

Okumaya devam et

The West, Neither at War nor at Peace

November 4, 2023

On November 29, the statement issued by the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of Foreign Ministers said that allies remain steadfast in their commitment to further step up political and practical support to Ukraine as it continues to defend its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and will continue their support for as long as it takes.[i]

Okumaya devam et

A World of Confrontation

August 14, 2023

The loss of life and devastation caused by this summer’s wildfires, floods, and drought unmistakably show that climate change is going to impact the world sooner and much more dramatically than generally expected. But understandably, many nations are also concerned about food security, and the suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Okumaya devam et