ASIA PAKISTAN The broad realignment of South Asian geopolitics is really going full-bore these days. There's the burgeoning US-India relationship that coincides with serious problems in the US-Pakistan relationship, and the reverse is happening in Russia's relations with both countries. The Russia-India relationship remains pretty strong at the moment, but it might not for much … Continue reading World update: March 5 2018

SYRIA All you fans of superfluous American missile strikes might want to start getting ready for Operation Do Something About Syria, Volume 2: The Trump administration has considered new military action against the Syrian government in response to reports of ongoing chemical weapons use, officials said, raising the prospect of a second U.S. strike on … Continue reading Middle East update: March 5 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Despite a stark absence of any evidence to support his case, reformed* Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar insists that he can play an important role in bringing the Taliban to the table for peace talks. He claims to already be communicating with Taliban leaders and has been using his own experience as a rebel-turned-whatever … Continue reading World update: March 3-4 2018

SYRIA Independent monitors, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, say that the Syrian government and its allies have captured between 10 and 25 percent of Eastern Ghouta in their latest ground offensive, which began on Wednesday. They're close to cutting the suburb in two, as you can see: Amid this offensive both the government and … Continue reading Middle East update: March 3-4 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA The Russian government on Friday angrily rejected claims from the Trump administration that its fancy new nuclear weapons that promise to destroy humanity even better than the old ones actually violate international treaties. For the Russians, ironically, it's America's decision to abrogate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 that's partly motivating their decision … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: March 2 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Armen Sarkissian, former prime minister and ambassador, is your new Armenian president. Congrats to him, even though the job has been mostly downgraded to ceremonial levels now. AFGHANISTAN At least two people were killed in Kabul on Friday when a car bomb, apparently targeting a NATO convoy, detonated in the Afghan capital. There's … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 2 2018

SYRIA The Syrian government and its allies are continuing their ground offensive into Eastern Ghouta. They've opened up at least two and possibly three fronts from what I can tell, and are slowly taking villages from the rebels. I'd make a joke about the ceasefire here but I think we're way past even pretending that's … Continue reading Middle East update: March 2 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA Vladimir Putin is really excited about his new nukes: Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Moscow is developing a new range of supersonic nuclear weapons that cannot be intercepted by antimissile systems.   In his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, Putin claimed that Russia has tested an intercontinental ballistic … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: March 1 2018

ASIA ARMENIA With his second and therefore final five year term as Armenian president expiring in April, Serzh Sargsyan is most likely preparing to do the Half Putin (AKA the Reverse Erdoğan) by shifting into the office of prime minister at the same time as (not coincidentally) that office is becoming more powerful than the presidency. The … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: March 1 2018

SYRIA So far Russia's plan to open a five hour ceasefire window every day in Eastern Ghouta to allow civilians to leave and humanitarian aid to come in has been a gigantic bust. I know, I was shocked too. The United Nations says the windows aren't nearly long enough to actually accomplish either of those … Continue reading Middle East update: March 1 2018