Global Risks in 2022: The Year of Colliding Consequences

As 2022 draws to a close, we are confronted with an unprecedented collision of global risks, interacting and reinforcing each other in dangerous new ways. The impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are still rippling outwards, colliding and combining like waves on a sea. The heightened threat of nuclear conflict, the

The Allure of Strongmen

After President Putin had given a speech, garnered with accusations and myths, a mega-show at the Red Square celebrated the re-entry of four Ukrainian regions to the bosom of Mother Russia. This while a mass mobilization was preparing to throw hundreds of thousands of young men into the hell of

Ukrainians scared by Russia’s preordained referendums

 After seven weary months of war, many Ukrainians fear more suffering and political repression awaits them as referendums orchestrated by the Kremlin with help from gun-toting police portend Russia’s imminent annexation of four occupied regions. Many residents fled the regions before the referendums got underway, scared about being forced to vote

Polish PM to discuss security, energy crisis with France’s Macron

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday he would visit Paris on Monday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, defence cooperation and energy issues with French President Emmanuel Macron. "First of all, we will talk about security issues, because France is an important partner ... Strengthening (NATO's) eastern flank will

Targeting only Russian oligarchs, a historic mistake

The war in Ukraine has highlighted Russian kleptocrats funnelling billions of dollars out of the country and investing them in London and other major global financial centres, prompting political leaders in Europe and USA to crack down on this shady money. Russian oligarchs are believed to hold as much as