Tag Archives: Putin

The crumbling architecture of arms control

Posted on October 23, 2018 | 8 comments

At a political rally on Saturday 20 October President Trump announced that the US will withdraw from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987. This confirms what has steadily unfolded over the last couple of years: the architecture of US-Russian nuclear arms control is crumbling. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, nuclear weapons

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There could be a Russian key to progress at Geneva II

Posted on February 15, 2014 | 1 comment

Two leading scholars of Russian policy have produced a fascinating and important analysis of how and why Russia might generate progress at the Geneva conference on Syria. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Uncategorized

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The US-Iranian-Syrian diplomatic dance

Posted on October 9, 2013 | 3 comments

The destruction of Syrian chemical weapons (CW) has started. In a breakthrough moment in Iran-US relations, the two Presidents talked on the phone and the foreign ministers sat down to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme. Though the connection has received little comment in the western news media, these two welcome developments are deeply linked and close to inter-dependent. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace

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Vladimir Putin saves West from its hubris

Posted on September 24, 2013 | 2 comments

That is a headline I never thought I’d write, a sentiment I never expected to utter. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace, Uncategorized

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Syria – what role for diplomacy?

Posted on June 21, 2013 | 3 comments

In the course of little more than a week, the idea that diplomacy could achieve anything to prevent the war in Syria escalating yet further fell off the international agenda as arms supplies became the dominant theme and returned to head it following the G8 summit at Enniskillen’s Lough Erne resort in Northern Ireland. Here’s my quick take on what seems to be going on. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace

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Syria: intervention – or the great power game?

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 1 comment

Syria – the death toll reaches 93,000, the US administration says it has firm evidence of nerve gas use by the Syrian government and further says it will supply arms to the opposition. Things are moving – but towards what? The debate is focused on the arguments for and against armed intervention. I think that may well be very misleading. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conflict & peace

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