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I have a piece out with Engelsberg ideas on Russia-Iran relations: some history, and a reflection on Putin's current dilemma.

So in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Russia, I propose to stand with Aliyev. For a start, his oil is more democratic. Secondly, his ethnic cleansing is more successful, and therefore more easily forgotten. Most importantly, Aliyev has the unquestionable advantage in that he

Nice!

A great piece by Max Bergmann: csis.org/analysis/natos…. The key is not how much you spend, but how. It’s important to note that European defense spending already dwarfs Russia’s.

People, anyone want to have a go translating this note? BNY is Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin, and ST at the end I think refers to Strobe Talbott. Write in comments below if you can!

open.substack.com/pub/profradche…. An interesting report by the British Ambassador in Moscow Sir Andrew Wood on Russia's outlook. How things looked 25 years ago, at the time of Putin's arrival.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s Kaja Kallas on Wednesday that Beijing does not want to see a Russian loss in Ukraine because it fears the United States would then shift its whole focus to the Indo-Pacific scmp.com/news/china/dip…

Historians will appreicate. Soviet thinking about spheres of influence. It's time that this document is widely shared in the English translation [Free]. open.substack.com/pub/profradche…

An excerpt from a real conversation.

substack.com/@profradchenko…. A UK Foreign Office profile of Putin, 1999. "Prefers to maintain a certain distance in social situations." Lol.

The upside. I would argue we should just spend 10% instead of 5%: this way, not only will we not have to ever learn Russian, but, more importantly, we'll never have to learn Chinese, which, by the way, is a lot more difficult to learn. Money well spent, if you ask me.