National decline is seldom as bad as it looks – until somebody attempts to reverse it
A war in Ukraine that was meant to restore Russia to the superpower status once held by the Soviet Union has done the exact opposite
In a more minor key, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng claimed to be jump-starting a national revival with their radical mini-Budget on 23 September, only to see it blow up in their face. Two days later, Italians voted for a quasi-fascist government likely to blame immigrants, “LGBT+ lobbyists” and trade unions, among others, for causing Italy’s troubles.
The scale of the debacle of the Russian military effort is extraordinary, nor is there any sign of it ending. Far too few troops were sent by Moscow to fight in Ukraine. When the Ukrainian armed forces launched their counter-offensive around Kharkiv in September, they faced only non-regular Russian units which panicked and fled, abandoning their vehicles and equipment.
Anything approaching a defeat for Russia will not be welcomed by everybody because it is not only China and India that want to avoid the total primacy of the United States – as happened after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Opec powers like Saudi Arabia want to keep their ability to manoeuvre, something they may lose in a unipolar world run by America.Putin exaggerated Russia’s strength and underestimated Ukraine, along with its Nato allies.
As prime minister, Giorgia Meloni will have to hold together a rancorous coalition of parties. Though Italian and British politics increasingly resemble each other, the difference is that in Britain factions are within a party rather than outside it. Putin is doing poorly in Ukraine, but then the US and UK did not do much better in Iraq and Afghanistan. .I was living in Belfast writing my PhD at Queen’s University when I first visited America in 1972. At that time Northern Ireland was one of the more violent places on the planet, aside from conventional war zones like Vietnam. But I was surprised in New York to find that people talked more, and even seemed more frightened, of violence than back in Belfast.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Energy And More: Turkmenistan Improves Economic Ties With The U.S | OilPrice.comWith core inflation soaring, Turkmenistan is increasingly looking at Ukraine and the U.S., while trying to keep relations with Russia good
Read more »
Banks face their 'darkest hour' as crimeware powers upWhen I saw it, I had to reverse engineer it, Kaspersky's lead security researcher tells us
Read more »
BOFH: The Boss has a new watch – move readiness to DEFCON 2Let us show you some pointless technology of our own
Read more »
France Sends Germany Natural Gas To Ease Its Energy Crisis | OilPrice.comOn Thursday, France started sending natural gas directly to Germany in an attempt to alleviate the energy crisis in Europe’s biggest economy, which used to rely heavily on Russian gas supply before the war in Ukraine.
Read more »
Maya Jama set to host Love IslandHAVING BECOME 'a massive ' fan of the show, Maya Jama said she was 'excited' ' to be named as the brand new host of Love Island.
Read more »