President Putin’s reaffirmation of Russia’s CSTO mutual defense obligations to Belarus has led to speculation that he might be considering a repeat of the Crimea scenario to (re)unify the two countries as a political solution to the latter’s ongoing Color Revolution crisis. Should he decide upon such a dramatic course of action, which would in…
Several recent developments in Russian-Belarusian relations — in particular, Belarus’ return of 32 suspected Wagner mercenaries to Russia, Belarusian opposition leader Tsepkalo’s departure from Russia, and the two phone calls between Presidents Putin and Lukashenko — hint that bilateral ties might soon return to their formerly fraternal level, though the fact of the matter is…
Belarusian President Lukashenko’s announcement that presidential elections will follow a planned constitutional referendum possibly paves the way for a “phased leadership transition” in the Color Revolution-beleaguered former Soviet Republic, one which opens up an opportunity for Russia to protect its national interests if a friendly candidate like Viktor Babariko comes out on top or ends…
The Belarusian security services have every right to employ whatever means they deem necessary to prevent the illegal seizure of power by a violent political minority, but these “Democratic Security” (counter-Hybrid War) measures shouldn’t be exploited for Russophobic purposes such as attacking Russian journalists in order to send a political message to Moscow, though enough…
It was entirely predictable that the Color Revolution unrest that Lukashenko himself earlier kindled by partially laying the blame for this regime change attempt on Russia, which he did in a misguided attempt to co-opt this movement and use it as a post-election pretext for accelerating his pro-Western pivot, would ultimately end up backfiring after…
Trump’s ultimatum that Microsoft and ByteDance have until 15 September to work out a deal on TikTok’s US operations or the popular video-sharing app will be banned under national security pretexts represents a new sanctions model that incorporates a combination of strong-armed robbery and economic fascism given the immense pressure that the US government is…
