International Affairs No. 4, 2025 – Table of Contents

RUSSIAN-VIETNAMESE relations have a long history and their own traditions: On January 30, 2025, our two states marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This anniversary provides a good occasion to look back, to recap results, and outline plans for the future.

As a Vietnamese proverb says, “Nothing can hinder a strong friendship, which is like the continuous flow of the Mekong.” The wisdom embodied in these words applies to relations between peoples – in our case, the peoples of Russia and Vietnam. Indeed, these relations have stood the test of time: They were tempered during the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese against French colonizers and American aggressors. We know and appreciate that our friends in Vietnam remember the assistance provided by the Soviet Union during the war and afterward, when the country had to be rebuilt…

ON JANUARY 30, 1950, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Over the course of three quarters of a century, despite all the twists and turns of history, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between our countries have served as a vivid example of strong interstate ties founded on the principles of trust, respect, and mutual understanding. No changes in international or domestic political circumstances are strong enough to affect the fraternal bonds of our two peoples, who stood shoulder to shoulder through the crucible of war for Vietnam’s independence and reunification.

Looking back on the path we have traveled over the past 75 years helps us better appreciate the enduring values of our forward-looking bilateral relationship, whose foundation was laid and strengthened by many generations of Russian and Vietnamese citizens…

THIS year, the world marks 80 years since the Great Victory over the embodiment of human evil – German Nazism. Essentially a derivative of eugenics, a pseudo-science of racial superiority that emerged in Britain at the turn of the 20th century, Nazism was a horrific ordeal for humanity. World War II claimed 60 million lives – an unimaginable cost. We owe an unpayable debt to the victors, our veterans, whose numbers are dwindling. We must preserve the values and moral and ethical principles embedded in the very meaning of Victory.

Today, the world is once again going through a difficult period. The dismal outcomes of the neoliberal phase are plain to see: The Yalta system has been dismantled, and international law effectively destroyed. The fury, assertiveness, and cruelty with which the EU countries treat Russia today are striking. Were it not for history, it would be astonishing. Behind the dilapidated and badly worn gilding of European democracy, the black SS uniform is once again clearly visible. Once again, certain European politicians are willing to condemn millions to death for the sake of their delusional ideas. In doctrinal documents of those who once served as Hitler’s financial and industrial sponsors, Russia is identified as one of the main threats, and the strategic containment of our country is set as an objective…

From a conversation between Russian and German short-term observers from the OSCE/ODIHR mission during elections in a Central Asian country:

THE current stage of development in the Russian Federation and Europe shares a common characteristic: Everyone understands that the previous world order in both economics and politics is gone, and any talk of inviolability of borders – already meaningless after the destruction of Yugoslavia – has today become exclusively an academic discourse. At the same time, all sides acknowledge that a state of war constitutes absolute stress for all aspects of the national and state system, especially the armed forces, while hoping that the stress on their neighbors will be greater than on themselves.

Changes in international law and assessments of their pace are separate issues not considered here. For the purposes of this article, we proceed from the assumption that Russia’s opponents are deliberately and with some success seeking out “gray zones” both in international law and directly along Russia’s borders. It should be noted that such attempts are not historically novel, and this is not the first time Russian has sought…

STRATEGIC forecasting and planning of future NATO military operations, carried out primarily by its military bodies with the involvement of governmental institutions, academic circles, and think tanks from member states, is viewed by the alliance’s leadership and the governments of its leading member countries as a key area of NATO activity. Based on predictive analyses and recommendations, member states are adopting increasingly ambitious programs and strategic initiatives aimed at accelerating the development of advanced weaponry that uses emerging and disruptive technologies (EDT); they are also adopting plans for future military operations.

In forecasting future developments in the global and regional landscape, alliance strategists apply several methods, the principal of which is strategic foresight. This method is based on the desire to look beyond today’s expectations by considering likely future development trends in order to determine their implications for current policy.¹ An integral part of the foresight process involves “Horizon Scanning” (HS) methods, which entail anticipating challenges and planning military operations based on innovative developments…

EVEN during his election campaign, Donald Trump identified Iran as the third highest-priority country that America would confront. For nearly half a century, the US and Iran have been locked in a state of ongoing confrontation, and Washington has yet to figure out how to punish or, ideally, overthrow the regime in that country, since all measures taken – economic sanctions, political pressure, military coercion – have failed to produce the desired results. The US would like to strike Iran, but at the same time fears such a risk, which could lead to unpredictable events and consequences in the Middle East…

A PRIMARY goal of the new economic policy that US President Donald Trump officially outlined in his address to Congress on March 4, 2025, is to minimize the chronic US trade deficit, which significantly distorts the entire structure of the American economy and contributes to the country’s growing national debt…

THE year 2024 marked the 95th anniversary of the birth of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov. Much has been said in praise of the breadth of his personality and his invaluable contribution to strengthening modern Russian statehood. As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, “In each period of his full, active life he gave priority to the interests of his country. He never tried to please anyone, and he was not afraid of challenging problems, trying to resolve them professionally, calmly and persuasuvely.”¹…

AS A professor in the Department of Diplomacy at Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations, I present the following obvious facts to my students in lectures.

Over the past half-century, the world has undergone a complex evolution, beginning with the landmark American war in Vietnam, followed by a period of detente in international tensions. However, the turning point in terms of fundamental changes in the global political climate was the perestroika initiated in the Soviet Union in 1985, which essentially created the conditions for ending the Cold War. As a result of the steps taken at the initiative of the USSR, the international atmosphere changed significantly. I am referring in particular to the signing of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan; the signing of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, which included the Allies’ consent to the unification of Germany into a single state and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the former GDR; the signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe; and the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms…

Airmen Oganesyan, Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs: The newspaper Le Point, in a review of your book La Défaite de 1’Occident [The Defeat of the West], writes that it leads a certain circle of people to the idea that, where the West is defeated, Russia is victorious. Unfortunately, today that circle is quite wide. However, their approach essentially negates any viable option for the development of the world, driving it into a narrow and stifling corridor. Is there a way out?

Emmanuel Todd: Europe is not a continent of violence. Its population is old, conflicts between social systems are very weak, and the relationships of economic complementarity are obvious. I am more inclined to say that this war is to a certain extent artificial for Europe. It is largely the result of NATO’s – i.e., the US’s – actions in Ukraine, which forced Russia to launch a defensive military operation. Thus, if we imagine a Europe free from American presence, it is easy to picture peace. The real problem, in my view, is that the defeat of the West is not a victory for Russia. The real problem of the West, particularly the US, is its domestic crisis; we are witnessing America’s decline, the collapse of the American economy, American power, and American culture, which is turning the US itself into a pole of instability…

ON MAY 9, I was in Moscow – at least in spirit. And I believe I was not alone. Many honest, decent Hungarians feel and think as I do on this day.

Eighty years ago, World War II ended in Europe. There are hardly any people left from that generation. The world has also changed. Old wounds have healed. One would like to say that we have no reason to wage war over the past, but in reality, this is not the case. Even today there are those who, under the pretext of the past, inflict new wounds, condemning humanity to suffering and a new war…

WE LIVE in an era of high speeds. This is true in economics, politics, social dynamics, and certainly in international relations – and not just in quantitative but in qualitative dimensions. The Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC) is no exception. In fact, the region is feeling the intense interplay of interconnected global and regional trends, as well as a nascent – still tentative, yet objectively necessary – inclination toward detente along the Moscow-Washington axis. The question is whether it is capable of triggering shifts in geopolitical and geoeconomic practices along other vectors, including those that pass through Latin America.

STARTING from the metamorphoses along the Moscow-Washington route, it is premature to draw definitive conclusions, but we are presumably entitled to offer the interested reader some reflections on possible developments. As a first approximation, counting from the start of Donald Trump’s second term, three scenarios can be outlined. The first is an inertial one, with minimal easing of geopolitical confrontation and the likelihood of peacekeeping intentions stalling. The second is adaptive, involving detente to the extent that the irreversibility of the peace process is ensured, though with temporal and substantive limitations. Finally, the…

THE US continues to play a key role in global politics, and Russian-American relations, despite the growing polycentrism of the international system, remain a central axis of global stability. Understanding the logic of US foreign and domestic policy, the dynamics of bilateral relations, and Washington’s long-term strategies requires deep and multi-layered analysis. At one time, Russian experts made a significant contribution to developing expertise that fostered the development of approaches to dialogue, competition, and the prevention of escalation. Their efforts contributed to creating mechanisms that made it possible to keep Russian-American relations within the bounds of strategic predictability, even during periods of acute tension…

AT THE current stage of technological development, sovereignty in the field of digital technologies is acquiring paramount importance. The growing attention to digital sovereignty is driven by the radical transformation of economic and technological systems, social relations, and political life brought about by the global digital changes conceptualized in Klaus Schwab’s work The Fourth Industrial Revolution}

In a context where the digital space has become an arena of geopolitical conflict and the level of digitalization is a significant factor determining a country’s position on the international stage and the range of foreign policy options available to it, the academic community has shown increased interest in the issue of digital sovereignty.²…

THE Arctic, which for many years remained primarily within the sphere of interest of the eight Arctic states, is now experiencing a period of escalating geopolitical competition. This is driven by a range of factors, the most significant of which are the region’s vast natural resource reserves, the uncertain legal status of Arctic maritime routes, and potential actions by Western states aimed at weakening Russia’s position in the region. As the Arctic’s strategic importance grows on a global scale, issues related to this region have long since extended beyond the exclusive domain of the Arctic states…

THE Western world adopted the current European model of development under the influence of Enlightenment ideas. Today, Russia is changing this model, declaring the existence of a different civilizational tradition that is distinct from Protestant modernity. This entails a reassessment of values, rules, and norms of everyday life. The inflation of outdated values, rules, and norms will inevitably bring about the collapse of unfounded expectations, and generate existential frustration and a sense of ideological vacuum, which may ultimately result in the blurring of the image and erasure of the identity of the so-called “Western person.”

Russians are familiar with this condition: It emerged during our own identity crisis in the late 1980s. At that time, Russian society found itself trapped in the globalist “pan-human” universalism and experienced the effects of moral, cultural, and social disorientation. Today’s state of affairs in Russia is perceived by many as the beginning of an exit from this dead end, a time for “gathering stones.” But the processes of restoration are linked to a number of important conditions, including an analysis of the systemic mistakes of the past. That is the task we undertake in this article…

SCIENTIFIC diplomacy is playing an increasingly important role in the current geopolitical environment, which is marked by a sharp rise in political and economic risks and crises [1]. The intensification of sanctions pressure on Russia and its allied states (with more than 28,500 sanctions imposed on Russian companies and individuals); the escalation of political and military conflicts in various regions around the world; the rise in tensions and crisis of trust in all areas of political life; and the increasing complexity of macroeconomic factors all contribute to the growing demand for constructive tools and mechanisms capable of generating positive impulses and acting as catalysts in shaping a multipolar world based on mutual respect for interests and equal development of all states…

JUNE 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the CIS Antiterrorism Center (CIS ATC). The decision to create the Center was made during troubled times for countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 1999, Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk were shaken by bloody terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of more than 300 civilians. That same year, in southern Kyrgyzstan, clashes occurred between government forces and militants of the international terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.¹ The same terrorist organization carried out a series of bombings in Uzbekistan.

Given these circumstances, it became clear that pooling resources and coordinating actions was the only way to “mount a proper response to international terrorism, armed separatism, and other forms of extremism.”² This position was recorded by participants in a meeting of the CIS Council of Ministers of Internal Affairs in Kiev in October 1999 in an appeal to the heads of the CIS states…

Armen Oganesyan, Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs: Yuri Konstantinovich [Shafranik], in your view, how will the tariffs imposed by Washington affect the global energy market?

Yuri Shafranik: In our era of active and often dramatic changes in global economics and politics, one could extensively and productively analyze all possible developments in the global energy market resulting from the actions of various global players…

Rana Chhina: India played a significant role in the defeat of the Axis powers during World War II. By the end of the conflict, the Indian Army had grown into one of the largest volunteer forces in the history of warfare. Indian divisions took part in combat both on the Western Front – fighting the Italians in North and East Africa, and the Germans in Africa, Italy, and France – and in battles against the Japanese in Burma, Malaya, and other parts of the world. One of the most epic battles involving Indian troops took place at Imphal and Kohima in mid-1944, where a devastating defeat was dealt to the Imperial Japanese Army.

Answer: As for our involvement in the battles waged by the Soviet Union, we played an important role in the delivery of aid convoys to the USSR. These were part of a military operation known as the “Persia and Iraq Force,” or PAI Force…

THE sweeping actions taken by Donald Trump, global in their consequences, aimed at correcting US trade balances and enhancing the financial stability of the American economy, led to increased tensions in global markets and complicated the operations of financial institutions…

ON JANUARY 6, 2025, a new trial began against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who this time stands accused of illegally financing his 2007 presidential campaign, organizing a criminal conspiracy, concealing funds obtained through criminal means, as well as corruption and money laundering. A verdict may be issued in late September 2025. If convicted, the politician faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 375,000 euros.

Back in March 2018, based on a “critical mass” of information that had become public regarding behind-the-scenes dealings between Sarkozy’s entourage and the Gaddafi regime, French law enforcement launched a criminal investigation into the “hyperactive Sarko” on suspicion of “passive corruption.” In 2020, the evidence collected was sufficient to formally charge the former French president with creating a criminal conspiracy. On October 6, 2023, the politician – who had been showing excessive and not always legal interest in the progress of the investigation against him – was suspected of bribing a witness. At present, the charge brought against Nicolas Sarkozy explicitly includes, in addition to all of the above, “the creation of a corruption pact with Muammar Gaddafi.”…

THE topic of church-state relations in the years 1943-1953 has attracted scholarly attention for decades, and the general issues surrounding the interaction between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) can be considered well studied thanks to the research of numerous specialists [7, 12, 18, 24]. Nonetheless, it would be premature to claim that all gaps in the ROC’s history during the Stalinist period have been filled. In particular, the significant issue of the ROC’s foreign policy agenda, in our view, has been studied in a rather fragmented manner. We would venture to suggest that this is due in part to the fact that scholars tend to analyze the events and processes of the Stalin era primarily through an ecclesiastical lens, whereas understanding the role and significance of the Moscow Patriarchate of the ROC (MP ROC) in implementing the USSR’s foreign policy is inconceivable without a comprehensive investigation within the context of international relations…

ONE job of consular missions abroad is locating veterans of the Great Patriotic War, siege survivors, Afghan war veterans, and other categories of distinguished individuals and arranging the presentation of orders and medals to them.

These ceremonies are usually timed to coincide with commemorative dates and take place in a formal setting. But there are exceptions. I would like to share one such occasion that left a lasting impression on me…

THE year 2025 is the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. Defender – singular, not plural. This phrasing forms a quantum of memory in our consciousness. It invokes simultaneously the memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, the soldiers and commanders of the Special Military Operation (SMO), and the deeply personal, familial memory cherished by every Russian citizen. Serving as a reminder are the names we read on memorial plaques and gravestones, and today – beneath the photographs of young Russian men fighting in the SMO. They appear in dress uniforms, bearing insignia of their service branches and state decorations…

IN JUNE 2025, the Personnel Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs marks an unusual anniversary. On June 24, 1914, the “Law on the Establishment of New Institutions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Staff of the Central Institutions of this Ministry” was adopted, establishing the First Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where personnel issues in addition to financial and administrative matters were brought to the forefront…

“YOUR name is unknown, your deeds are immortal” reads the epitaph on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier [6], a monument sacred to our country, located by the Kremlin wall. Dedicated to the bright memory of those who gave their lives for future generations, this monument has become a kind of mass grave for all those who never returned from that terrible war…

THE historical ties between Russia and Switzerland run deep, and despite periods of strained relations – up to and including complete rupture – interest in Russian history persists in the Confederation, especially in those episodes that connect our two countries.

ON APRIL 9, 2017, around 200 passengers waited at Zurich station to board a train heading toward Schaffhausen. Before departure, an impassioned speech in German about the need to return from Europe to Russia was delivered by a noticeably overweight Vladimir Ulyanov (played by actor Dani Mangisch). The deliberate seriousness of his performance was periodically interrupted by treacherous chuckles from members of the crowd.¹…

THE Turkmen prose writer, commentator on international affairs, public figure, winner of the Makhtumkuli State Prize of the Turkmen SSR, and honored elder of the people Seyitniyaz Atayev (1924-2010) belonged to the generation of writers who entered literature in the postwar period. His work comprises short stories, novellas, novels, screenplays, journalistic articles, translations, and scholarly studies. Everything he wrote about he had experienced firsthand. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a direct participant in bloody battles, and an eyewitness to the reverse side of the greatest tragedy in human history, Atayev devoted his life and his work to a passionate struggle for peace, exhorting his readers and listeners that such a thing must never be allowed to happen again – anywhere, ever.

In 1942, Atayev had completed his first year at the Ashgabat Pedagogical Institute when the time came for him to take his place among the defenders of the Motherland. Alongside future renowned journalist Married Badayev and future Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Molochkov, he graduated from the Ashgabat Infantry School and later from a reconnaissance school. At the age of 18, wearing the insignia of a lieutenant on his tunic collar, he went to the front. He received his baptism by fire at the Battle of Kursk, where, although he held an officer’s rank, he was initially assigned in an officer’s regiment to an antitank rifle as an ordinary soldier. “War quickly changed a man’s fate,” wrote Atayev. “I had just been appointed a platoon commander in the 800th Regiment of the 134th Rifle Division…