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Opinion: The future of the China-US-Russia triangle after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

Opinion: The future of the China-US-Russia triangle after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

Since February 24, 2022, the international community's focus was concentrated entirely on the war in Ukraine and the growing Russia – West confrontation. It seemed that nothing could change the situation until the end of hostilities in Ukraine. However, on August 2 and 3, almost everyone’s attention shifted from Ukraine to Taiwan. As the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, stated her intention to visit Taiwan, up to half a million people were watching the trajectory of her plane on air flight tracking sites. The negative reaction of China, including the warning of President Xi during his conversation with President Biden that those who played with fire would be perished by it, created hype around this visit. Many were discussing the possibility of Chinese military jets closing the airspace over Taiwan and preventing Pelosi’s plane from landing in Taiwan, while some enthusiasts were even contemplating the possibility of a US-China direct military clash. As Pelosi landed in Taiwan and met with the Taiwanese President, the global social media was full of amateur assessments about the strategic victory of the US and the confirmation of the US global hegemony. However, as the dust settles down, and information noise and manipulation eventually decreases, a more serious assessment is needed to understand the real consequences of this visit.
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News
Displaced Women Face Daily Fear and Uncertainty in South Sudan's Tambura Region

Displaced Women Face Daily Fear and Uncertainty in South Sudan's Tambura Region

Women displaced by ethnic violence in Tambura, Western Equatoria, continue to live under a cloud of uncertainty, reports Africa News. Since conflict erupted there in 2021 between rival community-based armed groups, thousands of civilians, particularly mothers and widows, have been forced into makeshift camps, where basic safety, access to food and services, and hope for the future remain elusive.
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Kyiv mourns its people while allies discuss military support

Kyiv mourns its people while allies discuss military support

Today (29 August) has been declared a day of mourning in Kyiv after Russia’s drone and missile attack the night before killed at least 23 people, including 4 children. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply condemned the strikes, declaring them a sign of Moscow’s rejection of diplomacy and a direct assault on the fragile efforts toward peace. President Donald Trump said he is “not happy but not surprised” with the attack. In contrast, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia would "stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine".
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News
Pope joins appeal by the Latin and Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem for Peace in Gaza

Pope joins appeal by the Latin and Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem for Peace in Gaza

The Latin and Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem released a joint appeal for peace in Gaza on Tuesday, August 26, after their visit to the territory, saying there is no reason to justify “the deliberate and forcible mass displacement of civilians.” On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV joined his voice to theirs : “Today I renew a strong appeal both to the parties involved and to the international community, that an end be put to the conflict in the Holy Land, which has caused so much terror, destruction, and death,” said the Pope. He also called for the safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the protection of civilians. “I appeal for all hostages to be freed, a permanent ceasefire to be reached, the safe entry of humanitarian aid to be facilitated, and humanitarian law to be fully respected—especially the obligation to protect civilians and the prohibitions against collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,” he added. After the Israeli government announced its security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have issued a joint statement, with the first line taken from Proverbs 12:28: “In the path of righteousness there is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”
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Tension between Poland and Ukraine over proposed ban on Ukrainian nationalist flag

Tension between Poland and Ukraine over proposed ban on Ukrainian nationalist flag

Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv are heading towards a rift following to a proposal by the Polish president to amend legislation banning symbols in Poland used by Ukrainian nationalists during WWII prohibiting the display of Nazi and communist flags and signs. President Karol Nawrocki said his proposed amendment to the law would lead to the banning of “Banderite symbols” such as the red-and-black flag used by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Stepan Bandera wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). 
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Opinion
Opinion: The South Caucasus is no longer Russia’s backyard

Opinion: The South Caucasus is no longer Russia’s backyard

For decades, Russia has stood at the centre of the South Caucasus’ security order. No peace deal, no war settlement, no major infrastructure project could be imagined without Moscow’s involvement. Yet this year, for the first time in Azerbaijan’s modern history, that assumption has been openly challenged. A series of diplomatic clashes between Baku and Moscow, followed last week by the U.S.-mediated summit in Washington, show that Azerbaijan is willing to confront Russia more directly than ever before, and that the South Caucasus may now be shifting away from Moscow at an accelerated pace.
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Opinion
Opinion: Turkish policy in the South Caucasus and relations with Russia

Opinion: Turkish policy in the South Caucasus and relations with Russia

Turkey-Russia relations are typically based on compartmentalization. They simultaneously compete and cooperate in various regions, separating the areas in which their interests are overlapping from those where they are in competition. This concept was the base of their competing relations in Syria until the demise of Assad regime in 2024, and mutual interactions in post-Gaddafi Libya.
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Opinion
Opinion: People-to-People Contact Remains Absent in Armenia–Azerbaijan Normalisation

Opinion: People-to-People Contact Remains Absent in Armenia–Azerbaijan Normalisation

“You must be glad to be here,” the bartender told my friend, a journalist for a major international media outlet just arrived that evening in Yerevan from Baku via Tbilisi. He raised an eyebrow in response as the bartender slowly poured our drinks. “Why?” he asked, clearly confused. “Because Azerbaijanis are Muslims, they don’t drink, and there are no bars in Baku,” she replied, somehow absolutely convinced that she was correct. The exchange was almost comical, but revealed something deeper. Three decades of conflict had turned former neighbours into strangers. In Tbilisi, where ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis live side by side, it would be met with ridicule. Only last October I sat at a table where the vodka flowed as a local Armenian sang in Azerbaijani and ethnic Azerbaijanis expressed their appreciation in Armenian.