By Linus Höller The foreign ministers of traditionally neutral Austria and Switzerland officially declared their intent to join the German-led “Sky Shield” air defense alliance Friday. The move has reignited debates about what it means to maintain neutrality and is likely to draw criticism from France and Italy for its reliance on American — rather…
Category: Russia
This fall promises to be crucial for the future of Bosnia, a country torn by ethnic tensions, a breakaway republic and rampant corruption. Ahead of general elections and an important United Nations vote, I visited this country at the heart of the Balkans to learn more about the struggles it faces – and how the…
When Yugoslavia disintegrated, it left behind one of the most unusual states in the world. Bosnia and Herzegovina not only consists of two and a half “countries within the country,” but also has three simultaneous presidents, fourteen parliaments and a supreme leader appointed by the U.S. and EU. In this explainer, we take a deep…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a crime not just against Ukraine, but against civility and the Russian people themselves, says Dimitri Androssow, a Russian oppositional politician with PARNAS. Read TWU’s striking interview here.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was by no stretch of the imagination inevitable, but the factors that culminated in Putin eventually giving his troops the “go” were a long time in the making and include old territorial grievances, more recent Russian concerns about NATO and a healthy dose of authoritarianism. Let’s break down some key facts underlying the invasion.
Europe’s diplomats and heads of state are playing with an idea that, until a few years ago, seemed almost unthinkable: creating Europe’s very own nuclear force, a “Eurodeterrent” of sorts, with the main aim of becoming less dependent on the US while still being safe from Russia. Europe is in a difficult situation. On the…
The early 21st century has seen a resurgence in dictatorships and authoritarian governments throughout the world, including regions like Europe previously thought to now be stable democracies. However, models like the Soviet-inspired communist state or “traditional” dictatorships are outdated and will not survive through the 21st century. Instead, a new form of authoritarian regime is…
Here’s a topic, for a change, that isn’t really new at all but all the more puzzling – Number Stations. Spy stations, or (admittedly less catchy) number stations, are shortwave radio stations operated by intelligence agencies, embassies and militaries around the world, broadcasting strings of seemingly random numbers, at seemingly random times, on seemingly random…
The war against the self-proclaimed caliphate “Islamic State” has been dragging on for over two years and four months since it officially began on the 13th of June 2014. The war has and still is being fought out over two continents, in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Afghanistan and also Southeast Asia. A coalition of western…