Aura Sabadus

1 week ago | cepa.org | Emil Avdaliani |Aura Sabadus |William Echikson |Alexander Kolyandr

April’s inaugural Central Asia-EU Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, was the first of its kind for the two sides and was seen as a means to elevate the bloc’s influence in the region. Amid growing great power competition over Eurasian connectivity, Brussels was looking to secure a more solid footing.

1 week ago | cepa.org | Andrian Prokip |Aura Sabadus |Maciej Bukowski |Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

There is a lull, of sorts, in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, though not the full ceasefire promised in March (and broken in April) by Vladimir Putin. Even so, the lessening of such strikes represents an important opportunity for Ukraine to prepare for the near and long-term future. The lower tempo of attacks mean Ukraine can quickly repair damaged facilities and prepare for new rounds of strikes should negotiations fail.

1 week ago | cepa.org | Nico Lange |Elena Davlikanova |Edward Lucas |Aura Sabadus

For weeks now, Russia’s main axis of attack in southern Donbas has been faltering. Ukraine is conducting local counterattacks near Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Chasiv Yar and is unexpectedly pushing back against Russia. That progress has been aided by technical evolution; Ukraine has extended the range of its fiber optic drones by several kilometers, and these cannot be disrupted by Russian electronic warfare. This allows Ukraine to disable Russian artillery pieces and logistical facilities.

1 week ago | cepa.org | Aura Sabadus |Maciej Bukowski |Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

The myth of “cheap Russian gas” persists due to expectations that Russian gas giant Gazprom will eventually resume exports to the EU, weakening interest in alternative solutions. In reality, Russian gas is more expensive when security costs are factored in, with Russia-dependent countries subject to blackmail, corruption, and attacks on gas infrastructure.

1 month ago | aurasabadus.substack.com | Aura Sabadus

Dean Acheson’s ‘Present at the Creation’ is due for a sequel: ‘Present at the Demise.’Like the 51st US secretary of state who watched a new world order emerging from the ashes of the Second World War, we are the witnesses (and architects) of its demise. For the last seven decades the West has enjoyed the peace dividends of the order deftly described by Acheson in his Pulitzer-prize winning book, blissfully oblivious that war, and not peace, had been the rule that underpinned human history.