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Independent researcher/writer based in Hong Kong since 1997. Reformed academic. My long-form, analytical articles are collected here https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com/ email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
Reports by US journalist Tucker Carlson about the former US administration’s plot to assassinate President Vladimir Putin need to be thoroughly investigated and those responsible need to be brought to justice, said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma (the Russian parliament’s lower chamber).
🔺The plot itself and discussions on the subject constitute "a crime, a serious threat to global security, a direct path to nuclear war," he said. (Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK
Donald Trump channels his inner Reagan - Trump tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to bring down oil prices in order to put pressure on Moscow and "force the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the war with Kiev". His plan echoes Ronald Reagan's. In 1986 Reagan allegedly convinced Saudi Arabia to rise oil production so to drop the prices and thus hurt the Soviet economy. But this is 2025, the balance of power has changed, and taking a leaf out of Reagan's playbook doesn't guarantee success. In another attempt to channel his inner Reagan, Trump signed an executive order to initiate the construction of the "Iron Dome" missile defense system in the United States. This new defense system brings to mind Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program, which intended to create a space-based missile defense system designed to protect the US from aerial threats. The SDI was impractical, expensive and dangerous. It is mostly remembered as Reagan’s greatest triumph as an actor-storyteller. @LauraRuHK
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A lesson to Taiwan: It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal. Trump intends to impose tariffs on friends and foes alike, but while the most sanctioned countries are creating an alternative economic bloc (BRICS) to reduce their dependence on Western markets and financial systems, so-called US "allies" are going to bear the brunt of MAGA. ▪️On Monday the US president said he plans to impose tariffs on chips imported from Taiwan in an effort to get TSMC to make them in the United States. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expanding semiconductor production in the US with a $65 billion investment in three factories in Arizona. The project received substantial backing from the US government, including $6.6 billion in grants under the CHIPS Act.
But despite the ambitious scale, TSMC has faced numerous challenges in the US. Regulatory and compliance hurdles have slowed progress, with permitting and construction processes taking at least twice as long as in Taiwan.
Labour shortages have further complicated matters, prompting TSMC to relocate half of its workforce from Texas to Arizona. This has significantly increased costs due to relocation and accommodation expenses. Additionally, local supply chain gaps have hindered operations. For instance, the cost of sulfuric acid in the US is five times higher than in Taiwan, forcing TSMC to ship materials from Taiwan to Los Angeles and truck them to Arizona. The Arizona facility is producing slightly older chip technologies, such as the 4-nanometer chips now being supplied to Apple and Nvidia. (Sources: Reuters/Gizmochina) @LauraRuHK
Chinese New Year in Moscow. The 13-day festival starts today and is held for the second time as part of the 2024-25 Russian-Chinese Years of Culture. The large-scale celebration has gained great popularity - last year it attracted more than 700 thousand visitors. This year, an even richer program awaits Muscovites and tourists. The dragon parade starts at 17:00 on Tverskoy Boulevard and will end at 19:00 with a show on Manezhnaya Square. During the whole duration of the festival one can attend workshops to learn more about Chinese tea and calligraphy, how to make New Year's gifts, play Chinese board games, visit exhibitions of Chinese art, listen to traditional music etc. More than 120 restaurants located near the festival venues will offer a special menu, which includes Peking duck, dim sum, homemade noodles, hot pot and other delicacies. @LauraRuHK
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China's DeepSeek mobile app surges to the top of the iPhone’s download charts in the US... and US tech stocks crash. On Monday, the US market crashed, especially the Big Tech stocks such as Nvidia, which reported 17% fall, while the Nasdaq composite declined 5%. ▪️Shares of major US artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies slumped on a wave of fear that Chinese companies were poised to surpass them in the high-stakes battle for supremacy. DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup just over a year old, offers better performance at a fraction of the cost. The success of DeepSeek carries far-reaching implications for the global tech industry and supply chain, as it contradicts the widespread belief that the future of AI will require ever-increasing amounts of capital, power and energy to develop.
How does DeepSeek R1 compare to OpenAI or Meta AI?
Though not fully detailed by the company, the cost of training and developing DeepSeek’s open-sourced models appears to be only a fraction of what’s required for OpenAI or Meta Platforms Inc.’s best products. The much better efficiency of the model puts into question the need for vast expenditures of capital to acquire the latest and most powerful AI accelerators from the likes of Nvidia Corp. US export curbs of such advanced semiconductors to China were intended to prevent a breakthrough of the sort that DeepSeek has already achieved.
DeepSeek’s progress suggests Chinese AI engineers have worked their way around the restrictions, focusing on greater efficiency with less resources. ▪️Donald Trump earlier talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by Stargate, a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank.
Stargate plans to build data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of AI, its initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and the pyramid scheme was meant to reach five times that sum. DeepSeek, which has only taken two months to build at a cost of $6 million, has pricked that rapidly inflating financial bubble. ▪️Vivek Ramaswamy, recently sacked as co-head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), described the launch of Chinese AI model DeepSeek as a 'Sputnik moment'. @LauraRuHK
European gas prices are about five times as high as in the United States, versus twice as high before the pandemic. (Source: IMF) @LauraRuHK
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You know all the Trumpsters who swore blind nothing is worse than Biden? And we said it was delusional to think US tag team bipartisan foreign policy would change anything for the Palestinian people. Look at the ethnic cleansing ongoing in West Bank and now:
"I said to him I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza strip right now and it’s a mess, it's a real mess. I'd like him to take people," Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, said about his call on Saturday with Jordan's King Abdullah.
"I'd like Egypt to take people," Trump told reporters, adding he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.
"You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing," Trump said.
"It's literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there, so I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change," Trump said.
Pete Hegseth narrowly secured enough votes on Friday to become the next U.S. defense secretary. /channel/LauraRuHK/9341
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sent an order to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts to pause foreign aid grants for 90 days pending review by the secretary. The suspension affects foreign assistance programs funded by or through the Department of State and USAID. The message was in line with the executive order President Trump signed on Monday to reevaluate U.S. foreign aid. A waiver was issued for Israel and Egypt, but no other countries were specifically mentioned in the cable. ▪️Annual reviews of financial assistance to Kiev were attempted before but inspectors reported "significant challenges in conducting monitoring and evaluation because of security restrictions and the limited number of staff at the embassy." Sure. And the dog ate my homework. ▪️Despite the widespread corruption mentioned by inspectors, no one stopped the gravy train. The music has changed. NGOs and Ukraine's gov departments that depend on U.S. funding may experience a cash flow problem, and though Kiev hasn't officially responded to the suspension of financial assistance the mood is understandably somber. Washington provides direct budget support to central, regional and local government in Ukraine, business/trade assistance, energy security, etc. It also funds Ukrainian media and hundreds of NGOs that for over a decade have fed a corrupt system based on clientelism. @LauraRuHK
/channel/ForeignAgentIntel/13451
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday urged the United States to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons and said he was sure Europe was ready to pay the bill. @LauraRuHK
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Trump's team is expected to use ideology as a tool in its strategy towards China which could lead to new sources of friction with Beijing. The Trump administration intends to reverse the ideological direction set by the previous administration.
While Biden’s cabinet concentrated its attention on LGBTQ, women’s rights and climate change, the Trump administration is expected to refocus on religious freedoms in China and the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party.
Though both administrations are deeply prejudiced against China’s political system, the ideological confrontation between the US and China is likely to shift its focus, and hinge more on Cold War-style, anti-communist rhetoric. @LauraRuHK https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3296008/what-ideology-means-trump-and-his-team-us-competition-china?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article
As much as i appreciate Sebastian's mordant wit in assessing the EU's descent into geopolitical irrelevance, i harbour no illusion EU leaders will be able to chart a new course - they have been selected precisely because of their lack of political acumen. https://asiatimes.com/2025/01/europe-last-how-von-der-leyens-china-policy-traps-the-eu/
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Sabre-rattling in the "Garden of Europe" EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas -
"Ukrainians are buying us time to arm ourselves against Russia. Russia's defense industry is churning out tanks, glide bombs, artillery shells in vast quantities. In three months, they can produce more weapons and more ammunition than we can in 12. Russia is an existential threat to our soul."
"We need to spend more. Spend better. Spend together. Spend European. We can outspend, outproduce, and outgun Russia."
Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, refused to say whether Palestinians have a right to self-determination but stated that Israel has a biblical right to the entire occupied West Bank. ▪️Stefanik is also a staunch supporter of Taiwan's pro-American course and voted in Congress in favor of increasing military aid to Taipei.
She has pledged to work toward Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, which is firmly opposed by Beijing, the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China.
“I am committed to making sure that Taiwan has the maximum meaningful participation within the U.N. system, as it should in all international organizations,” Stefanik said during a Senate confirmation hearing in Washington.
As for countering China, “We have to be vigilant both in the long-term and the short-term to make sure that China is not able to make significant inroads... in international organizations,” Stefanik, added. @LauraRuHK
"The submerged part of an iceberg" is one of the metaphors used by Mike Lofgren, one of the theorists of the Deep State, to refer to that web of entrenched interests in the US government and beyond (most notably Wall Street and Silicon Valley) that dictate America’s defense decisions, trade policies and priorities with little regard for the actual interests or desires of the American people. In recent years the term Deep State has gained currency in political discourse and is no longer regarded as a conspiracy theory, though Wikipedia insists in describing it as such. A new article in Foreign Affairs, titled The Trump-Biden-Trump Foreign Policy. American Strategy’s Strange Continuity, not only uses the same iceberg metaphor but unwittingly confirms the existence of an American Deep State without ever mentioning it.
Across administrations—even ones as different as those of Biden and Trump—foreign policy is something like an iceberg. The visible portion is gleaming and jagged and draws much of the attention. Yet it also has a far bigger and underexamined foundation, one that tends to remain mostly unchanged. Even as they focus on Trump’s differences in style and substance, observers should not ignore the potential stability in the United States’ approach to the world.
Based on satellite images, Reuters reports that China has completed construction of the world's largest nuclear fusion research center. The publication emphasizes that Beijing will now have new capabilities in both peaceful nuclear energy and nuclear weapons development.
Work at the site near the city of Mianyang in Sichuan province has reportedly been underway since 2010.
Satellite images show four outer "arms" that will house laser bays and a central experimental bay that will house a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes that powerful lasers will fuse to produce energy.
The publication emphasizes that the complex is similar to the National Fusion Facility (NIF) located in California. At the same time, the Chinese center is 50% larger than the American one.
Any country with a NIF-type facility can and probably will increase confidence and improve existing weapons designs, and facilitate the development of future bomb designs without testing the bombs themselves, Reuters speculated.
At the same time, the news agency reassured its Western readers by reporting the quantitative superiority of the United States over China in the area of nuclear weapons. The publication recalls that the United States has conducted over 1000 different tests and has more than five thousand nuclear warheads. China, in turn, has conducted only 45 corresponding tests and has about 500 nuclear charges. (Source: Reuters) @LauraRuHK
Kung Hei Fat Choy! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year! The Snake year, imbued with the qualities of wisdom, intuition, and transformation, beckons us to seek deeper understanding and embrace change. In ancient Chinese mythology snakes are associated with themes of creation and procreation. One widely circulated story was recorded in the Chu Silk Manuscript, which dates back to the first century BCE - in the chaos before the formation of heaven and earth, there were two deities, Fuxi and Nüwa. From their union four sons were born - the deities representing the four seasons.
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Professor Sergey Karaganov's latest article is VERY important.
"Now, together with our colleagues, we are preparing a large-scale study and situational analysis devoted to the development of recommendations regarding Russia's policy towards the West. I will not predict the results of the discussion, but I will simply share some preliminary considerations [...] The Trump administration now has no serious reasons to negotiate with us on the terms that we have set. The war is economically beneficial to the United States, since it allows it to rob allies with redoubled energy, update the military-industrial complex, and impose its economic interests through systemic sanctions on dozens of countries around the world.[...] For the current European elites, the Euro-integrators, the war is urgently needed. Not only because of the hope to undermine the traditional geopolitical rival, to take revenge for the defeats of the last three centuries, but also because of Russophobia. These elites and their European bureaucracy are failing in almost all directions. The European project is bursting at the seams. The use of Russia as a bogeyman, and now a real enemy, which has been going on for more than a decade, is the main tool for legitimizing their project and preserving power. In addition, "strategic parasitism" – the absence of fear of war – has grown much stronger in Europe than in the United States. Europeans not only do not want, but also no longer know how to think. Since Soviet times and based on the experience of working with de Gaulle, Mitterrand, Brandt, Schroeder and the like, we have been accustomed to considering the Americans as the main instigators of confrontation and militarization of politics in the West. This is not entirely true, and now it is not at all true. It was Churchill, when it seemed to him advantageous, who dragged the United States into the Cold War. It was European strategists (they still existed then), and not the Americans, who initiated the missile crisis of the 1970s. Now the European elites are the main sponsors of the Kiev junta. They, forgetting that it was their predecessors who unleashed two world wars, are pushing Europe and the world towards a third. Sending Ukrainian cannon fodder for slaughter, they are preparing a new one - Eastern Europeans from a number of Balkan states, Romania and Poland. We have begun to deploy mobile bases, where contingents of potential landsknechts are trained. They will try to continue the war not only to the "last Ukrainian", but soon to the "last Eastern European". NATO and Brussels anti-Russian propaganda is already superior to Hitler's. Even personal human ties with Russia are being systematically broken. Those who advocate normal relationships are poisoned, chased out of work. In fact, a totalitarian liberal ideology is being imposed. They even forget about the claims to democracy, although they still squeal about it. The latest example is the annulment of the results of the presidential elections in Romania, which were not won by a pro-Brussels candidate.
European elites are clearly preparing their populations and countries for war. Even calling approximate dates.
Hmm, who could possibly launch a cyberattack on a Chinese company that pricked US inflated ego and rapidly inflating financial bubble? Read more here 👉 /channel/LauraRuHK/9643
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January 27, 2024 marks 80 years since the end of the siege of Leningrad.
The siege lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 and was one of the most monstrous crimes of nazism. Vladimir Putin compared it to the Holocaust after laying flowers at the grave of his brother, who died in the blockade of Leningrad. Nazi Germany's siege of Russia’s Northern capital claimed the lives of up to a million civilians and about half-a-million soldiers. @LauraRuHK
Trump will be playing the "good cop" while his China-hawk national security team, his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, will play the role of "bad cop." When Trump says he intends to pull 20,000 US troops out of Europe - approximately 100,000 US troops are stationed in the continent - force NATO countries to pay more for "protection" and buy more American weapons, rest assured that he will not bring the troops back home. They will be deployed where Washington sees fit, most likely the Asia Pacific.Trump has raised questions over how supportive of Taiwan he will be after saying on the campaign trail that Taiwan "stole our chip business" and needed to "pay us for defense."
He suggested that Taiwan increase defense spending to 10 percent of its GDP. At the same time he is playing footsie with Beijing, promising concessions in an attempt to drive a wedge between China and Russia. This strategy is bound to fail - any overtures Trump makes to Xi or Putin hinge on short-term gains while the Sino-Russian partnership is part of an irreversible historical process - the end of US hegemony and the rise of a multipolar world order. @LauraRuHK
Slovakia will expel “foreign instructors” allegedly involved in destabilizing the country and aiming to orchestrate a Ukraine-style Maidan coup, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Friday. He accused foreign operatives, opposition groups, and foreign-funded NGOs of undermining his government. ▪️Fico’s announcement follows a wave of anti-government protests and a series of cyberattacks on key Slovak institutions. Last week, the national information system suffered a major cyberattack, which Fico said was linked to another one targeting the state-owned General Health Insurance company on Friday. He described the attacks as part of a “textbook model” used to remove governments that dissent from Western policies.▪️Fico blamed foreign operatives for the attacks, and alleged they had ties to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protests, which led to the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich, and recent anti-government demonstrations in Georgia. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK
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France is calling for a major reworking of European regulations, starting with ESG rules, as the bloc struggles to revive its competitiveness against a backdrop of sweeping deregulation across the Atlantic driven by Donald Trump.
The simplification process must start with “a massive regulatory pause,” the government said in a 22-page document seen by Bloomberg. In addition, recent legislation must be reexamined and revised as it becomes clear the laws are “ill adapted to the new context of exacerbated international competition and to the uncooperative policies of our main international competitors.” ▪️Meanwhile, a leaked draft of the European Commission’s competitiveness compass — an economic doctrine to guide the EU executive’s work for the coming five years — reveled plans for deregulation targeting the European Green Deal in particular. @LauraRuHK
The European Parliament made green legislation more ambitious thanks to the lobbying efforts of NGOs funded by...the European Commission! 😅 This modus operandi is by no means confined to the green agenda. For instance, the European Endowment for Democracy finances organizations that advance their causes by lobbying members of the European parliament. @LauraRuHK https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/01/ec-paid-shadow-lobby-to-promote-own-green-policies-dutch-newspaper-claims/
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Ukrainian serviceman who defected to Russia has handed over to RIA Novosti footage made at the military base in the UK, where British instructors were training Ukrainian soldiers for an incursion in the Russian Kursk Region.
The training was held at the base in the Downholme village, 4 miles from Richmond in Yorkshire. @LauraRuHK
Chinese regions are focusing on deeper cooperation in transportation, logistics, trade, energy, and cultural exchanges, with countries and regions participating in the Belt&Road Initiative (BRI). So far, China has established BRI partnerships with over 150 countries, and backed more than 1,100 projects with about $20 billion in development funding. ▪️Southwest China's Chongqing and Guizhou plan to accelerate the development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, while ensuring the consistent operation of "China-Laos-Thailand" train services. This Corridor is a key logistics network connecting China's western regions to global markets. So far, it has expanded its reach to 555 ports in 127 countries and regions. ▪️South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is building the Pinglu Canal, a flagship project under the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. After completion, it will facilitate the direct shipment of goods from Guangxi and Southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou to sea ports through river systems, becoming a convenient and cost-effective passage to ASEAN members. ▪️Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, plans to upgrade the Kashgar Economic Development Zone and the Horgos Port, and build an international aviation hub serving Central and West Asia. ▪️The city of Hunchun, in Jilin province, bordering Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is witnessing an increase in freight volume at the border rail port.
▪️East China's Fujian Province will focus on promoting the construction of the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, improving maritime shipping capacity, and strengthening economic and trade exchanges with ASEAN members.
▪️East China's Zhejiang Province will develop a commodity resource allocation hub, and attract maritime law agencies and classification societies, according to its government work report.
▪️Shanghai intends to expedite the development of the Silk Road E-commerce Cooperation Pilot Zone, introduce a global science and technology partnership initiative and establish additional Belt and Road joint laboratories. @LauraRuHK https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202501/1327467.shtml
Marco Rubio starts as US top diplomat with Quad meeting. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on his first full day in office, brought his attention to strengthening strategic alliances in the Indo-Pacific. He warned jointly with Quad members Japan, India and Australia "against coercive moves in Asia." The four nations restated their "shared commitment to strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended. We strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," the joint statement said.
Rubio's meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was his first as US President Donald Trump's top diplomat. Then he met Australia's Foreign Minister Wong, who told a news conference in Washington she had a "very positive discussion" with Rubio on Aukus, a trilateral security partnership that also involves the UK. With Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Rubio discussed North Korea and "joint efforts against China's destabilizing actions," State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce said.
▪️Traditionally, the first foreign outreach of a new American administration is either with a neighbour - Canada or Mexico - or with an ally from Nato. Rubio privileged the Asia-Pacific, in line with the US new strategic priorities. 🔺China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a political tool for the US to contain China and maintain its hegemony.
🔺Beijing has also said the Aukus alliance would intensify a regional arms race and undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. @LauraRuHK
This article by Andrey Ilnitsky gets straight to the point.
The idea of inflicting “strategic defeats” on Russia has been a cornerstone of US policy for a long time. It transcends party lines and is implemented regardless of which administration occupies the White House. (...) While Trump’s personal views might differ from Washington orthodoxy, the forces shaping his administration remain aligned with America’s long-standing ambitions of hegemony. (...) Expecting Trump’s second term to usher in a multipolar and equitable global order would be naive. The real power behind Trump’s administration – interest groups, corporations, and donors – has little incentive to pursue peace. His 2023-2024 campaign received significant backing from military-industrial giants like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, as well as Silicon Valley’s venture capital elite. These forces thrive on perpetual conflict, where war is repackaged as “peace through strength.”
Trump’s geopolitical priorities are clear: undermine China’s rise as an economic and technological powerhouse while maintaining pressure on Russia. Elbridge Colby, a key figure in Trump’s foreign policy team, has articulated this strategy bluntly. Writing in May 2024, Colby argued that America must prioritize Asia – specifically China – over Europe and Russia. “The logic of Cold War strategy,” he wrote, “once led America to Europe; today it suggests that America should focus on Asia. China is the main rival.” (...) Domestically, Trump’s team envisions America as a “subcontinental fortress,” invoking a modernized Monroe Doctrine. This vision includes greater control over Canada, Greenland, and Panama, and a tighter grip on Central and South America. The goal? To secure America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere while sidelining external powers like China and Russia. Technology and military innovation are central to this vision. Trump’s administration aims to leverage artificial intelligence and cutting-edge dual-use technologies to maintain global superiority. This requires a complete reboot of the US military-industrial complex and a closer alignment between civilian industries and defense objectives. However, the question remains: can Washington, with its internal divisions and waning influence, successfully implement such an ambitious strategy?
For Russia, this geopolitical landscape poses serious challenges but also offers opportunities. The unipolar world order led by the US is undeniably weakening. Multipolarity is no longer just an aspiration; it is becoming a reality. However, the US and its allies are not retreating quietly. Instead, they are intensifying hybrid warfare against nations like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea – countries labeled as “revisionist regimes.”
Trump’s rhetoric may appear bold and unconventional, but his administration’s actions are predictable. The MAGA doctrine of 2024 is less about genuine transformation and more about reasserting US dominance at any cost. Whether through economic coercion, military intervention, or ideological posturing, the goal remains the same: enforce a world order dictated by Washington.
For Russia, the path forward is clear. We must remain steadfast in defending our sovereignty and values. Unlike the West, which prioritizes hegemony, Russia stands for a multipolar world where nations have the right to determine their own destinies. The challenges are immense, but so are the opportunities. In this new era of great power competition, Russia’s resolve will be tested, but our commitment to our people and our principles will guide us through.
The plan for military cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan for 2025 and the strategic partnership program in the military sector for 2026-2030 were signed in Tashkent on Wednesday. According to the Russian military agency, the 2025 cooperation plan between the defense ministries of Russia and Uzbekistan includes 50 joint events on all activity tracks of the military agencies of both countries. Although Uzbekistan remains firmly within Russia’s economic sphere, it hasn't joined Moscow-led alliances like the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The joint work of Moscow and Tashkent has a significant impact on security in the Central Asian region.
According to Andrei Belousov, cooperation between Moscow and Tashkent 'has achieved a high level of mutual understanding and continues to expand'. The Minister expressed confidence that the meeting is to launch a new stage of interaction between the two countries in the defence sphere. @LauraRuHK
Digital devices have turned billions of people worldwide into atomised data-production machines, feeding information into thousands of algorithms each day. Although we have integrated smartphones and tablets into our lives, we seldom reflect on how the data stored and transmitted by these gadgets can easily become militarised. Many of you may not know that all the brands you associate with innovative digital products are an integral part of the military-industrial-technological complex. I could give you many examples, as Silicon Valley has always worked for the Pentagon and the CIA, but i choose one company, Apple, because for a long time it was marketed as the epitome of counter-cultural cool.▪️While Doug Beck was Vice President at Apple, reporting directly to its CEO, Tim Cook from 2009-2023, he founded and led the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) joint reserve component from the inception in 2015 through 2019. Since 2023 Beck is the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense. In this role, he oversees efforts to accelerate the Department's adoption of commercial technology throughout the military and also serves as a senior advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense. Here is an excerpt from his address to the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, OUTPACING CHINA: EXPEDITING INNOVATION TO THE WARFIGHTER.
I look forward to discussing how we can move quickly to integrate and deploy unique and complementary disruptive technologies from commercial sources with the scale and speed necessary to deter competitors and ensure victory in potential conflicts in line with the priorities of the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS).
Innovation is a Strategic Imperative
Technological innovation, spurred by trillions of dollars of private investment and innovation in many technology domains critical to U.S. military power, is advancing at a much faster rate in the private sector than in the traditional defense sector. Progress in 11 of the 14 critical technology areas, as identified by the USD R&E, is led by commercial sector advancement, that is identifying, testing, and refining these areas through relentless market-driven efforts driven by the insatiable demands of billions of consumers around the world and the enterprises that serve them.