For sincere journalists in the West, Ukraine presents a dilemma. There is no doubt where the sympathy lies. The war in Ukraine is seen as the good guys against the bad guys and public opinion is strongly against Russia. What then to do with news putting the good guys in a bad light, for example Ukraine losing in the battlefield, their armed forces bombing a nuclear plant in Russian controlled territory, their use of residential areas for shelling the Russians and so on? Ignore them, deny them or tell the facts as they are?

The 2016 US election where Donald Trump defeated Hilary Clinton gave rise to an unprecedented wave of accusations of meddling in the elections. The main culprit was Russia, and the Russian meddling was seen as decisive. If not, how could Hilary lose, despite having almost the whole US establishment and most of the media supporting her? That the US should accuse other countries of meddling in their internal affairs, is quite funny, given that they are the meddlers par excellence, and by the way are proud of it. However, meddling in other countries’ internal affairs is and old, bad habit,…

A new a multi-polar world is dawning on us. This has implications for all corners of the world, but not least for Europe, the cradle of the two world wars. The dominating powers in Europe are US-lead NATO in the military sphere and EU in the economic and political sphere. According to both, all would be well in Europe had it not been for Russia which is a malign power trying to subdue independent countries, sowing confusion and distrust within the EU and threatening the continent with military invasion. They both need to reconsider and think harder if they are…

Despite many denials, it is clear that the hegemonic US-lead liberal international order is on its way out. What has to come is necessarily a multi-polar world, with the US as one of the heavy players, but one among several. If you have any doubts, just listen to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, declaring that the US is entering a “tripolar” world. It will be very difficult for the US political and military establishment to accept this bitter reality, and a politician accepting it is facing a risk of political demise. This is…

The new catch-word in international politics is “Rule Based International Order”. The narrative is that this order is being challenged from outside by rogue revisionist countries, principally China, Russia and Iran, and from inside by nationalist and populist politicians (Trump, Brexiters, Orban, Marie Le Pen and the like). There is a call to arms to defend/re-establish this threatened Rule-Based Order. However, if we take a closer look, it becomes obvious that the rules are bent or invented to fit the wanted narrative to the extent that you start doubting whether there are any rules at all.