Wars are no longer fought in the trenches, they’re fought in the streets and civilians are on the frontline.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (left), Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2019 Russia-Africa summit in Sochi.
by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Russia has long been a ‘paramilitarised’ regime, where the state can be challenged and undermined, but is not completely destroyed, by paramilitary or criminal groups.
People walk the streets in Kyiv, Ukraine in July 2023.
Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A scholar of Eastern Europe spent time talking with Ukrainians in Kyiv during a recent trip and observed that people are scarred from the war – but still determined to fight back against Russia.
As long as nuclear power plants continue to operate, we are frighteningly vulnerable not only to severe accidents, but also to the weaponisation of these facilities.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2018.
Andy Wong / AFP via Getty Images
There is increased demand to join BRICS in the emerging world order, partly as a countervailing power to “the west”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER/POOL
Breaching the Kakhovka Dam and reservoir had all the hallmarks of a scorched-earth strategy. Two expert observers of the Russia-Ukraine war explain this event’s destructive long-term effects.
A woman holds a photo of Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, at her memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Jae C Hong/AP
Victoria Amelina died 1 July, from injuries she received during a Russian rocket strike on Kramatorsk. Her work addressed questions of individual and collective responsibility.
People in Brussels attend a memorial for the Ukrainian children who have been forcibly taken to Russia.
hierry Monasse/Getty Images
Russia’s systematic manipulation of children dates back long before the war in Ukraine, to when the Soviet Union first made false promises to its large population of orphans.
Ukrainian soldiers on a Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle at their positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 25.
(Roman Chop via AP)
Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision to cancel the publication of her latest novel needs to be understood in the context of a long history of symbolic protest.
Depleted uranium shells will equip M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, also from the U.S.
Lance Cpl. Julio McGraw, USMC/Flickr
Depleted uranium munitions are bad news for enemy tanks, but are not nuclear weapons, and studies have shown that they pose low risks of radiation or chemical exposure.
A screen grab shows the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant after a blast on June 6, 2023.
Zelenskyy Social Media Account / via Getty Images
Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
The ongoing war in Ukraine has forced the Russian military to reassess its ability to defend its territorial gains. The flooding of the Dnieper River gives the Russians a natural defense.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant seen across the Dnieper River, which was receding after a downstream dam was destroyed.
Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
The International Atomic Energy Agency says the plant has enough water to last for several months. What happens afterward or if the remaining water is lost to the war could lead to a disaster.
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the 14th BRICS Summit via video link in Beijing. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit.
Li Tao/Xinhua via Getty Images
Geopolitics is forcing BRICS countries to balance respect for international law, self-determination, sovereignty and peaceful resolution of disputes with their friendly relations with Russia.
China and the U.S. compete to be the world’s largest economy, but the dollar dominates the yuan as a currency.
peng song/Moment Collection/Getty Images
Despite China’s economic power, the yuan lags as a major global currency. Here’s why current US interest rates and sanctions on Russia may change that.
Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Affiliate Professor at the Institute for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies, University of South Florida