NATO's new regional defense plans will require an improved NATO Force Model to produce more troops at high readiness across the Alliance. At the same time, in addition to numbers, "speed and scale are important, as well as flexibility and a wide range of opportunities." This was announced by Chair of the NATO Military Committee,…
SIPRI: World’s military expenditure reaches a new record
Analysts from SIPRI presented a report, saying that the world’s military expenditure in 2022 increased by 3.7% and reached $2240 billion, which is a historical record. These figures turned out to be a result of the largest and the most intensive increase in military spending in Europe in the last 30 years. However, the leaders…
Russia’s Suspension of Participation in START: The World Reacts
The announcement of New START treaty suspension by the Russian President was vividly discussed. This political decision combined with Vladimir Putin’s order to ensure preparedness of the state for nuclear testing raised some fears of the end of nuclear arms control and of the destruction of an already faltering global security architecture. Vladimir Putin announced…
A new Clash on the Line of Actual Control
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, in a speech to parliament, announced the prevention of an attempt by the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) to cross the Indian-Chinese border. According to the minister, Chinese troops have made an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Indian…
Legal and Political Aspects of Possible EU Visa Sanctions
A few years ago, Russia and the EU were actively working within the framework of a visa-free dialogue. Unfortunately, in less than 10 years, the visa problem has acquired a fundamentally different character. Now some EU countries are discussing the issue of not canceling, but banning the issuance of Schengen visas to Russian citizens. After…
Stability is Cracking: Interim Results of the NPT Review Conference
The Tenth NPT Review Conference is still ongoing, and this year the conference is taking place in very specific circumstances and in the context unprecedented tension between the nuclear weapons states since the end of the Cold War. Thus the statements made by the parties during the conference to some extent clarify the shape of…
Temporary Measures: Russia’s MFA on the START Inspections
Russia decided to temporarily exempt the inspection activities from the facilities subject to inspection under the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START). The Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the message at the website on 8 August. The Ministry infromed the US through diplomatic channels. The…
Fighting Nuclear Terrorism is Going Successfully
The Tenth NPT Review Conference is ongoing, but apart from the Conference there are various side-events, dedicated to the relevant problems of the sphere. One of them was the event, jointly organized by the UN Counter-Terrorism Center and the EU, where the parties discussed the problem of nuclear terrorism. During the meeting heads of various…
The Food Crisis and Prospects for Overcoming it
The participants of the "Valdai" discussion club had a conversation on the global food crisis, its causes, consequences and prospects for overcoming it. In his opening speech, Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation of the Valdai Club, said that the crisis into which the world is plunging began long before February 2022.…
East Reorientation is a Matter of Long Time
Russia will be able to increase gas supplies to Asian markets to a level close to last year's export volumes to the EU, no earlier than in 10 years. This forecast was given by analysts from the International Energy Agency (IEA). They also expect a decline in gas production in Russia in 2022-2025 by 480…