Zelensky’s wear and tear

Zelensky’s wear and tear (original)

For more than two and a half years, war has been the raison d’être of the Ukrainian state. The budget presented by Kyiv this week allocates more than 50% of the budget to the defence sector – to which must be added the cost of veterans – something that has been repeated since 2022. Maintaining the front, avoiding its collapse and ensuring that there is still enough support to continue fighting until the objectives are achieved is the priority of the government team, which has set aside practically all other obligations of the state, which today depends entirely on foreign subsidies that make it possible to pay salaries and pensions. One of the aspects that has completely disappeared under the cover of the unity demanded by the war is precisely domestic politics. The Russian invasion gave Zelensky’s team the opportunity to create for the president the image of a war leader, the representation of the nation, a savior capable of achieving what he sets out to do, the only person capable of rescuing the country from certain ruin.

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Trumpism, NATO and the Ukraine war

Trumpism, NATO and the Ukraine war (original)

“Two years ago, General Mark A. Milley, then President Biden’s chief military adviser, suggested that neither Russia nor Ukraine could win the war. A negotiated solution, he argued, was the only path to peace. His comments caused a furor among senior officials. But President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory is making General Milley’s prediction come true,” wrote The New York Times in an article published last week, part of a growing line of arguments by those who fear that the arrival of the new Republican administration will mean leaving Ukraine to its own devices. These articles, present in all major American and European media, take literally Trump’s desire to end the war and his lack of interest in the situation in Ukraine. This has also been helped by the words of JD Vance, who, from his ignorance of the conflict, has proposed a plan that can only satisfy Russia, or the exalted response of Donald Trump Jr. after the confirmation of the American permission to use Western missiles against targets on the territory of mainland Russia. Sometimes, think-tankers and experts also add Trump’s disdain for NATO or his desire not to rescue member countries that do not meet the minimum investment required by the Alliance in the event of a Russian attack.

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Pro-EU forces in Moldova claim victory in questionable vote + More

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The tiny European state of Moldova is increasingly being drawn into the maelstrom of NATO’s war against Russia. On Monday, the US-allied government of Maia Sandu claimed victory in a referendum held the day before over whether the country should join the European Union. According to the Central Election Commission, 50.39 percent of voters supported and 49.61 percent opposed EU ascension. Slightly more than half of those eligible to cast a ballot did so.

Pro-EU forces in Moldova claim victory in questionable vote

The International Republican Institute is affiliated with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). See my “front organizations” page regarding NED and Amnesty International.

Related:

06-10-2024 Daniel Runde and Thomas Bryja: Moldova’s Fate Is Tied to Ukraine’s: Now Is the Time for the West to “Go Big” on Moldova

Daniel F. Runde’s Support for Ukraine (CSIS):

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[Updated] Moldova says ‘no’ in vote on joining EU: partial results

DW (Germany): Moldova says ‘no’ in vote on joining EU: partial results

They’ve been building up this election interference narrative for months.

Related:

B92 (Serbia): Moldova decided: Loud and clear – NO!

BBC: Moldova’s EU vote hangs in balance as president blames voter ‘fraud’

BBC changed their headline.

More information on just a few of the front organizations in Moldova:

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Alleged Chinese Nuclear Submarine Sinking: Separating Facts From Bullshit

Source

Western defence media has recently been buzzing with the story of a Chinese SSN allegedly sinking in the Yangtze River near Wuhan. But is it actually true? We take a look at the likelihood of this.

Alleged Chinese Nuclear Submarine Sinking: Separating Facts From Bullshit

Related:

China denies U.S. claim that its newest nuclear submarine sank at pier

A growing problem of ‘deepfake geography’: How AI falsifies satellite images (Archived)

An open and free Indo-Pacific, or stability at home?

Source

The Voice of America, in an article about why the Quad met in Washington this week, claims that the aims of the Quad are to create an open and free Indo-Pacific. Biden, in a prepared remark, suggested his Administration believes “Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space”.

An open and free Indo-Pacific, or stability at home?

Atlantic Council’s Ali Riaz to lead commission on constitutional reforms for Bangladesh

Ali Riaz to lead commission on constitutional reforms

The government yesterday named Professor Ali Riaz as head of the Constitutional Reform Commission, replacing Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik.

Prof Yunus announced the formation of six reform commissions in his address to the nation on September 11.

They were formed to reform the judiciary, the election system, the administration, the police, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the constitution. Prof Yunus also named the chiefs of the commissions.

Ali Riaz, a Bangladeshi-American, is a distinguished professor of politics and government at Illinois State University, US. He was the chair of the Department of Politics between 2007 and 2017.

He is a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council and the president of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies.

Related:

About Ali Riaz

Atlantic Council, American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, BBC World Service, Claflin University (South Carolina), Illinois State University, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (Singapore), University of Hawai’i (East-West Center), University of Lincoln (U.K.), V-Dem Institute (funders), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2023 donors), Testified at U.S. Congress in 2013, 2015, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2008.

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