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Researcher & writer based in Hong Kong. Former academic. Longform articles archived at https://lauraruggeri.substack.com and https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com. Email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
🚨Pashinyan proudly surrendered Armenia to Azerbaijan/Turkey
🇺🇸🇦🇲🇦🇿In the latest address to the nation, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan has called the signing of a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the White House a pivotal moment, urging Armenians to let go of the idea of returning to Karabakh.
Key takeaways:
🌏Fighting for the return of displaced Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, is "unrealistic and dangerous"
🌏 The peace agreement with Azerbaijan was established after recent talks in Washington, signaling a "new South Caucasus"
🌏The return of Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan was excluded from the agreement to avoid tying it to the deal's signing.
Pashinyan is still hiding details about the controversial "Trump Bridge" project linked to the Zangezur Corridor — a 43 km route cutting through Armenian land. This could mean more strategic concessions disguised as border talks.
Pashinyan is sacrificing security guarantees on key issues — and Armenians will likely be the last to know about further compromises.
👍 Boost us | Chat | @geopolitics_prime
China and India Prepare for a Major Rapprochement and High-Level Summit
Dmitry Drobnitsky, Russian analyst, writes: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has arrived in New Delhi on a working visit, signaling a significant diplomatic thaw between the two Eurasian giants. The United States is watching this rapprochement with growing unease.
During his visit, Wang Yi is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval—who recently visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.
Reports have also confirmed Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to China, his first since 2018. Traditionally, discussions between India and China focus on the Himalayan border dispute and bilateral trade. Tensions peaked in 2020 following deadly clashes in Ladakh, leading to a diplomatic freeze and heightened military presence along the border. However, both sides have since reduced troop deployments, and trade relations are gradually improving.
Yet, the deeper significance lies in the evolving geostrategy of Eurasia, shaped by what many see as the West’s enduring hostility. For decades—since the Clinton era—India was viewed by Washington as a strategic partner in Eurasia and a counterbalance to China. Trade and investment flourished, and India became a key player in the QUAD alliance (USA, Japan, India, Australia), designed to contain China’s influence.
However, even under President Biden, the QUAD has faltered. India, under Modi’s leadership, has consistently declined to support resolutions targeting China and Russia. During Trump’s first term, India began a slow but steady pivot toward Russia, aided by proactive Russian diplomacy led by Putin himself. Following the imposition of sweeping sanctions on Russia under Biden, India emerged as one of the largest buyers of Russian hydrocarbons.
Under Trump’s second term, the Indian leadership came to view Western hostility as a structural and bipartisan reality. When the U.S. introduced secondary tariffs—amounting to 50% on Indian goods (excluding smartphones)—India accelerated its Eurasian pivot, a move surprisingly swift for a country known for cautious diplomacy.
In Washington, these developments are being met with barely concealed anxiety. Predictably, American liberals blame Trump. Farid Zakaria, a prominent voice of liberal globalism and a staunch Trump critic, called the tariffs on Indian goods “Trump’s biggest foreign policy mistake” in a recent Washington Post article.
By the same logic, Biden’s sanctions on Russia and his demand that Beijing distance itself from Putin’s regime could be seen as his own major foreign policy blunder.
But this isn’t just about missteps. It reflects a broader, structural shift. Eurasian powers are now shaping their geopolitical and economic strategies with the expectation that Western hostility will persist for decades. As a result, both the politics and the economy of Eurasia are gradually—but decisively—decoupling from the West. @LauraRuHK
Russia does not accept any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine that could lead to an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"We reiterate our firm opposition to any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine that could lead to an escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences. Statements on this matter by certain European countries, including the United Kingdom, essentially confirm their openly provocative and predatory intentions in Ukraine," the diplomat said, commenting on London's statements about the possibility of deploying Western military forces in Ukraine if a ceasefire agreement is reached.
The Party of War has assembled what it calls a "dream team" to support Zelensky at the White House, where he is due to meet Trump on Monday. 🔺Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz embody the "two pillars of Europe," the French-German axis.🔺Ursula von der Leyen represents "Europe’s importance as an economic juggernaut and will remind Trump how small Russia’s economy is vis-a-vis the EU and the UK and other western partners”.
🔺Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is "a useful bridge: she counts Trump as a friend but also supports Ukraine."
🔺The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb "managed to establish an unexpectedly warm relationship with Trump and will offer the perspective of Russia’s closest European neighbour, urging Trump not to trust Putin."
🔺Keir Starmer represents Washington's key transatlantic partner and will remind Trump not to sour UK-US relations ahead of his state visit to the UK next month.
🔺Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, has "a proven track record of corralling Trump with honeyed words," at the Nato summit in June, he called him “daddy.”
@LauraRuHK To know more about the "dream team operation" aka "till the last Ukrainian", you can read the article that spells out this strategy. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/17/zelenskyy-faces-daunting-trip-to-the-white-house-but-this-time-he-wont-be-alone
The US military-industrial complex is expanding production both domestically and abroad. Lockheed intends to establish production of the Patriot PAC-3 missile in Europe, adding a third source of production outside of the US and Japan. Alongside that, the US Army is now seeking a second supplier for the missile’s seeker, which is currently manufactured by Boeing. Reuters previously reported the seeker in particular was a chokepoint in the PAC-3’s manufacturing.
Lockheed is making similar moves for other programs, such as shifting subcomponent work into the UK and moving manufacturing into Poland for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) family of munitions. Poland has signed up to be the first country outside the US to produce the Javelin anti-tank missile and Lockheed is seeking to broaden the weapon’s production in the UK, which is already a critical Javelin supplier. https://breakingdefense.com/2025/06/lockheed-seeks-european-partners-for-missile-production-crunch/ ▪️Lockheed Martin is expanding its industrial collaboration package for the Philippines as part of its F-16 Block 70 solution for the country's Multi Role Fighter program. The enhanced offer includes a strategic partnership with Southern Methodist University (SMU) to drive digital innovation, intellectual property creation, and workforce development with Philippine universities and industry. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321952/why-lockheed-martins-philippine-rd-hub-will-be-chinas-radar?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage
Fyodor Lukyanov: It has been a long time since any diplomatic event has attracted as much attention as the meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States in Alaska. In terms of its significance for the future of international relations, the only comparable moment was the negotiations surrounding German reunification 35 years ago. Just as that process laid the foundation for decades of political development, this moment marks a new milestone. And while the focus is not on Ukraine itself—though it has become the arena where historical shifts are most visible—the real issue lies in the principles that could enable a broader settlement. This concerns not only the Ukrainian crisis but also the relationships between the world’s leading powers. If we follow the historical parallel, it’s clear that one meeting alone will not yield results—the diplomatic marathon of that earlier era lasted several months. Moreover, the atmosphere then was far less tense and infused with a spirit of optimism. The barrage of “white noise” now surrounding the event serves as a clear indicator of its importance. [...]
Let us turn to an aspect that does not depend on the hidden intricacies of negotiation but nonetheless forms a crucial part of the context: the broader shifts on the global stage, not caused by the Ukrainian conflict, but accelerated by it. The author of these lines has always been skeptical of claims that relations between the West and the rest of the world—the so-called global majority—are moving toward a structured opposition. The degree of mutual entanglement and interdependence is too great; even sharp military and political crises cannot fully sever these ties or neatly divide nations into opposing camps.
Still, there are shifts underway. While they may not transform the world into two rival blocs, they do reveal material—not merely ideological or rhetorical—contradictions between them.
The catalyst was the U.S. president’s attempt to pressure major global majority countries—China, India, Brazil, and South Africa—into following directives from the White House. Under the now-defunct liberal world order, rules were framed as universal and offered some benefit to those who joined. Today, however, narrowly defined American interests, expressed in starkly mercantile terms, dominate. Political motives are still presented as justification—such as opposition persecution in Brazil and South Africa, or support for Russia in India and China—but these appear more like pretexts. The real objectives lie elsewhere. Symbolically, Trump avoids the language of sanctions altogether, preferring to speak in terms of tariffs—an overtly economic instrument, albeit deployed for political ends.
Yet the outcome was not what the American president anticipated. Accustomed to the accommodating stance of allies, he found resistance. These allies had previously made concessions to preserve their broader relationships with Washington. Most BRICS nations were not seeking conflict with the U.S.; their economic interests are substantial, and none wished to jeopardize them. But the bluntness of the approach forced a firmer response. The issue, thanks to American pressure, has taken on an explicitly political dimension.
So what does Ukraine have to do with all this? Directly, very little. But it has become the focal point of global political tension. A new picture is emerging—one that didn’t exist until recently. Having chosen to negotiate with the United States, the Russian president is personally briefing his BRICS counterparts and other key partners on the process. They acknowledge and support the initiative. On the other side, consultations are also underway, but the mood across the Atlantic is marked more by nervous agitation than strategic coherence. Trust is in short supply. In effect, the world is dividing into groups. One is moving toward greater coordination; the other is losing cohesion. Europe’s anxiety over what Trump might sign with Putin is telling.(1/2)
Russia is the top investor in the economy of Kyrgyzstan, Vladimir Putin said.
"Relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan are successfully developing in the spirit of strategic partnership and alliance. Economic cooperation invariably remains the most important component. Our country occupies a leading position among the states investing in the Kyrgyz economy," he said in an address to the participants of the Kyrgyz-Russian business forum.
This year, more than a thousand delegates from Russia, Kyrgyzstan and other countries are taking part in it.
Putin noted that this was made possible by the Development Fund, which has invested in more than 2.5 thousand projects.
▪️Russian is the lingua franca of Central Asia where the majority of citizens use it to conduct business, study and access information on digital platforms. Unsurprisingly, the West is actively trying to marginalize the use of Russian in the region. Take the Wikimedia Foundation. It offers generous grants to Wikipedia content creators and editors who use local languages instead of Russian. The bulk of new entries are unreliable translations generated by AI. Russian Wikipedia (whose content is controlled by the West) is one of the largest in the world. In contrast, the most popular Central Asian editions range from about 75,000 to 300,000 articles. (Turkmen Wikipedia has fewer than 7,000.)
Russian still holds the status of a second official language in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, whereas in Tajikistan it is considered the “language of interethnic communication.” A 2023 study by the European Neighborhood Council found that even three decades after the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Russian-language media continue to play a huge role in Central Asian people’s everyday lives. The West is playing a long game — once the new generations lose their proficiency in Russian, the new lingua franca would become English. Since education is crucial, Russia should focus on promoting more student exchange programs, offering free or affordable language tuition, cultural activities, business, technology and media training to Central Asian youth. @LauraRuHK
Let me introduce today's bird, the Burevestnik (Petrel in English). The ocean rages, a tempest's fierce roar,
Waves tower high, in meters they soar.
The wind, a wild thief, rips sails apart,
Yet through the storm's heart, a bold spirit darts. A petrel, small, cloaked in midnight's hue,
With wings that stretch where the gales pursue.
No shelter sought, no fear in its flight,
It dances with chaos, embracing the fight. No error, no madness, this creature's no fool,
Its wings carve a path where the tempests rule.
For survival it soars, through the storm's cruel art,
The petrel's defiance, a fire in its heart.
@LauraRuHK
China's military has expelled the U.S. destroyer Higgins that intruded into China's territorial waters near Huangyan Dao on Wednesday.
He Tiecheng, spokesperson for the navy of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said that the theater command organized forces to lawfully track, monitor, issue warnings, and expel the U.S. warship, which entered the territorial waters near Huangyan Dao without authorization from the Chinese government.
The U.S. actions severely violated China's sovereignty and security, undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea, and contravened international law and the basic norms governing international relations, He said. (Source: Xinhua) @LauraRuHK
🇨🇳🇮🇷 In May 2025, Iran and China officially launched a direct freight railway line that reduced the shipping time of goods from the usual 30 to 40 days by sea to just 15 days via land. The first train, which departed from Xi’an on May 10, arrived at Iran’s Aprin Dry Port near Tehran on May 25. Just 19 days later—and not by coincidence—the Israeli-American coalition launched an assault on Iran, with Israeli air forces targeting, among other sites, Iranian oil infrastructure. Clearly, this railway—regarded by many as a “lifeline”—was seen in Western power centers as a strategic threat long before its construction was completed.
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🇨🇳🇧🇷In a phone conversation on Tuesday Xi told Lula that China backs the Brazilian people in defending their national sovereignty and supports Brazil in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests.
Xi called BRICS a key platform for building consensus in the Global South and said China is ready to work with Brazil to set an example of unity and self-reliance among major Global South nations, Chinese state media Xinhua reported.
All countries should unite in resolutely fighting unilateralism and protectionism, he said.
China and Brazil pledged to enhance coordination within BRICS and the G20 to oppose unilateral bullying practices. Xi described China-Brazil relations as being at their peak in history, according to Xinhua.
The phone call came days after US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50 percent and before Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are set to meet on Friday.
Beyond political cooperation, Xi and Lula focused on growing business potential between Brazil and China.
The Brazilian presidency underlined that both leaders showed a willingness to explore new areas of economic cooperation while expanding on existing strong trade flows.
Agriculture remains a cornerstone of the partnership, with China being the world’s top importer of soybeans, most of which are from Brazil.
Brazilian coffee exporters have recently strengthened their position in the Chinese market, owing in part to tariffs imposed by the US.
With the global economic climate becoming more confined by tariff walls and trade tensions, both leaders seem determined to harness their partnership to reinforce market access, advance South–South cooperation, and broaden the political influence of BRICS. @LauraRuHK
Moldova - Last weekend EU-worshipper Maia Sandu, the Soros puppet who graduated from the JFK School of Government at Harvard, attended the music festival Lupilor (Wolves Festival) in Orheiul Vechi. She was accompanied by Nicușor Dan, who became president of Romania in 2025 after a more popular candidate had been banned. Her handlers know the power of music and of a well-crafted public image. Russian bands and musicians who hold pro-Russian views are not allowed to enter Moldova. In August 2023 Goran Bregovic, the Sarajevo-born star was stopped by border police at the airport and prevented from playing at the same festival because of his political views.
Years earlier the EU mobilized "pro-democracy" musicians to support Sandu's presidential bid in 2020, as you can see from the screenshot of the EED (European Endowment for Democracy) website i took in 2022 while conducting research for my article https://strategic-culture.su/news/2022/10/15/eastern-partnership-eu-geopolitical-gamble-leading-europe-into-abyss/
I had a great exchange with Vanessa Beeley, whose work i have been following and admiring since 2015. Unfortunately, due to my slow internet connection (I am not in Hong Kong at the moment), the sound quality leaves much to be desired. https://beeley.substack.com/p/the-zangezur-corridor-and-its-place
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Supplies of Europe-sponsored American weapons to Ukraine will continue regardless of the outcome of the Russia-US summit on August 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
“Absolutely, they will continue,” he said in an interview with CBS News.
“So we had the first two packages committed by the Dutch and then by the Scandinavians. I expect further announcements in the coming days and weeks. And this is crucial,” he said.
Zelensky, the expired president of Ukraine who hasn't been invited to the Putin-Trump meeting scheduled to take place on 15 August, commented that "Alaska is very far from this war [...] which cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine." Washington started its 'Ukraine project' decades ago, whether it will shelve it or not doesn't depend on the Ukrainian coke-addled comedian, which is why his presence is neither welcome nor required. The decision to hold the meeting in Alaska is both symbolic — it's the U.S. state geographically and historically closest to Russia — and practical. The Russian presidential plane could just fly across the Bering Strait to reach Alaska. And Anchorage is far enough from external actors, like UK-EU meddlers, offering a controlled and secure environment for negotiations. Mind you, they may still try to sabotage the meeting before the 15th. Some analysts pointed out that negotiations between Russia and the US could include future cooperation in the Arctic, but at this stage it's pure speculation. @LauraRuHK
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US President’s trade advisor Peter Navarro, in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times said that India needs to stop buying Russian crude oil, alleging that India’s purchases of Russian crude oil were funding Moscow’s war. Today US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed this accusation and added that Washington views the situation as unacceptable.
Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil now accounted for 42% of India's total oil purchases, up from under 1% before the war.▪️ A few days ago, trade talks between the US and India, scheduled for August 25-29, were canceled. ▪️We have heard it all before, when China was the target of US pressure. As in that case, Washington will be told to mind its own business. The US arbitrary rules-based 'order' is no more. Like it or not, the multipolar world is the new reality. Ignore it at your own peril. @LauraRuHK
Map of Ukraine in the Oval office. To be revised daily 😏
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According to sources of the South China Morning Post, European diplomatic missions in Beijing are discussing plans to skip the military parade scheduled to be held in Tiananmen Square on September 3. The reason cited is Vladimir Putin's attendance at the parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Let it sink in. EUnuchs are willing to jeopardize their relations with Beijing in order to avoid Putin. In case you need further evidence that Russophobia leads to brain rot. @LauraRuHK https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322196/eu-diplomats-mull-skipping-china-military-parade-over-putins-attendance-sources
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) says that it has thwarted another attempt by the Ukrainian special services to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge.
"A car with a high power explosive device arrived in Russia from Ukraine through a number of countries. It crossed the Russian-Georgian border at the international checkpoint "Upper Lars" in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, and was supposed to proceed to the Krasnodar Territory on a car transporter" the FSB statement said. Then the car would be driven across the Crimean bridge by an "unwitting suicide bomber."
All those involved in the smuggling of the car bomb into Russia have been detained. This is the second attempt in a year by the Kiev regime to use a car with a large amount of explosives to sabotage the Crimean bridge. On April 2, the Belarusian security forces detained a minibus with more than half a ton of explosive at the Brest customs. (Source: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK
[...] It is somewhat troubling that public discourse is fixated on territorial demarcation—who gets what, and what is given in return. Yet the acute phase of the crisis around Ukraine did not erupt over territorial ambitions. Russia raised fundamental questions about the post–Cold War security architecture. That system, in practice, allowed for the indefinite expansion of the North Atlantic bloc, framed as a mechanism for ensuring European security.
This brings us back to the negotiations of 35 years ago, where the principles now under scrutiny were first established. The German reunification process, while territorial in nature, laid the groundwork for a system that ultimately led to the events of 2022. Today, as in 1990, borders and territories are just one element—far from the most important—in shaping a new foundation for peaceful coexistence. The current crisis is a consequence of how the Cold War ended, or more precisely, of the imbalance in relations between its principal actors: Moscow and Washington. In this sense, we are witnessing an effort to resolve a lingering conflict from the past. Without its resolution, a new global framework cannot emerge—not just between Russia and the West, but for the world at large. The intensity of the Russian president’s engagement with BRICS leaders suggests he understands this very well. (2/2) @LauraRuHK https://rg.ru/2025/08/14/bez-gadanij-znatokov-podozhdem-itogov.html
Russia's FSB and Defense Ministry have disrupted Ukraine's plans to produce Sapsan ballistic missile systems for strikes deep into Russia, and hit Ukrainian defense industry plants. The facilities where the Zelensky administration planned to produce OTRK systems with ranges between 500 and 700 kilometers were targeted with high-precision weaponry. In total, four missile production locations were struck: chemical and mechanical plants in Pavlograd, the Zvezda plant, and the Research Institute of Chemical Products in Shostka.
According to the FSB, Ukraine had been covertly developing its missile program with the help of Germany which financed the production of long-range Sapsan missiles. The FSB and MOD operation served as a pointed warning to Western defense companies considering joint weapons production within Ukrainian-controlled territory. @LauraRuHK
According to The Telegraph, Trump intends to offer Russia a deal on rare earths mining in Alaska. In return for what? How about Galicia-Volhynia, also known as Banderastan? Lviv is a very nice city — European vibe, an exquisite 9-hole golf course in the oblast and English is widely spoken.
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The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a combined US Air Force and Army installation in Anchorage, Alaska, CNN reported, citing White House officials. /channel/LauraRuHK/10376
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Russian Defense Ministry: according to information received through multiple channels, Ukraine is preparing a provocation to derail the Russia-US summit in Alaska.
Kiev, in preparation for the provocation, has brought journalists from other countries to Chuhuiv via the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) transport to "prepare reports," the ministry notes.
Western journalists are expected to immediately document a provocative strike by Ukrainian armed forces causing numerous civilian casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry does not rule out provocations in other settlements under control of Ukraine.
As a result of the provocation, Kiev plans to place full responsibility for the attack and civilian casualties on Russia, creating grounds for derailing the talks with the US, the ministry adds. (Source: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK
The rapid advance by the Russian Armed Forces near Krasnoarmeysk (called Pokrovsk in Ukraine) in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has become one of the most significant achievements of the Russian army over the past year, the Financial Times said.
The newspaper calls it a "shock advance," emphasizing that it "has triggered a wave of indignation and confusion in Kiev ahead of a crucial summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Friday. The Financial Times reiterates that the advance "marks some of the most significant Russian gains in the past year, and comes at a perilous moment for Ukraine, whose army is struggling with shortages of manpower and ammunition."
Earlier, Russian security agencies told TASS that Russian units had cut off a vital road linking Krasnoarmeysk and Dobropolye in the DPR.
Panic is spreading across Ukrainian media outlets and social networks over reports about the worsening situation for the Kiev regime near Krasnoarmeysk. The Strana media outlet says the situation is dangerous and predicts that in the coming days, Ukraine "may lose hundreds of kilometers per day."
(Source: TASS) @LauraRuHK
Donald Trump:
"It's very complicated. But we're going to get some back, we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping"
Zelensky’s inner circle transfers $50 mln every month to UAE accounts — Turkish newspaper
Every month, members of Vladimir Zelensky's inner circle transfer approximatel $50 million obtained as a result of corruption schemes to UAE accounts of two companies linked to the former adviser to the chair of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, Andrey Gmyrin, Turkey’s Aydinlik newspaper claims.
The newspaper wrote that it was publishing current accounts to where the money is being transferred. At the same time, it published no documents to prove the transfers.
The Turkish newspaper wrote, citing Ukrainian media reports, that between 2021 and 2023, Gmyrin’s family purchased real estate property in Dubai worth over $14 million. In May 2021, companies Gmyrin Family Holding and GFM Investment Group were established, where, according to the newspaper, the money is being transferred.
(Source: Tass) @LauraRuHK
Azerbaijan may lift its arms embargo on Ukraine if Russian forces continue targeting energy infrastructure linked to Azerbaijan in Ukraine, according to Haqqin, citing sources close to Azerbaijan’s presidential administration. On August 8, Russian forces struck a State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) oil depot in Ukraine’s Odessa region with five Geran kamikaze drones. The fire was contained, and repairs are ongoing. This was the second attack on SOCAR-related facilities recently, following a strike on the Orlovka gas distribution station, which handles Azerbaijani gas supplies. @LauraRuHK
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My friend Mathew Maavak's latest article is essential reading for anyone concerned about digital colonialism and AI ethics.
"The Global South needs a coordinated pushback against Silicon Valley’s digital hegemony. This would involve not just resisting predatory data practices but investment in alternative infrastructures such as sovereign cloud storage, ethical AI standards, community-owned data cooperatives, and open-source platforms. This is how a new digital non-alignment paradigm can be achieved.
The Global South has been colonized before. But data, unlike oil or sugar, is invisible, infinitely replicable, and easily stolen. That makes the fight harder but also more urgent. In this new age of algorithmic empires, control over information isn’t just about profit, it is about power, freedom, and the right to define your own future."
Armenia-Azerbaijan. As anticipated, the US was granted exclusive rights to develop the strategic Zangezur corridor, a move the White House said would enhance energy exports and regional connectivity. At the expense of....fill in the blanks.
Washington signed separate bilateral accords with both countries to expand collaboration in energy, trade, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Trump also announced the lifting of restrictions on U.S. defense cooperation with Azerbaijan. @LauraRuHK