Mali, a former French colony, has turned away from Paris and toward Moscow. Russian instructors, many of them Wagner veterans of the war in Ukraine, now help its army fight insurgents. In return, Moscow is eyeing Mali's gold, uranium and lithium. Is this sovereignty or a new dependence?
Garry Kasparov sees Trump's second term as the Putinization of America, with Elon Musk as its leading oligarch. Alexander Dugin welcomes the same changes and calls Trump Putin's ideological twin. Both agree that Trump's America is starting to look like Putin's Russia. They differ only on whether that is a disaster.
In March 2023, a Hamas delegation visited Moscow, and months later Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Russia and Iran arm Hamas and other militants, while Iranian drones fly for Russia in Ukraine. Every flare-up in Gaza lifts oil prices, filling the war chests of Moscow and Tehran.
In recent months, Europe has seen a coup plot in Romania, a blast at a Spanish defense factory and sabotage on a German frigate. All have been linked to Russian intelligence. While fighting openly in Ukraine, Moscow wages a quieter war against Europe through sabotage, cyberattacks, bribery and propaganda.
Donald Trump promised to end Russia's war against Ukraine in a week by pressuring Kyiv into concessions. When Zelensky refused, Trump called him a dictator and began repeating Kremlin talking points. Yet Congress, the defense industry and Europe may well stop him from abandoning Ukraine.