Across the broad sweep of history, it’s usually overly simplistic to talk about a single event as a “turning point”. This is especially the case in a conflict such as the one in Ukraine. So many factors – geopolitical, strategic and economic – can and will continue to influence the course of the war. So it would possibly suit the situation better to describe the passage of Joe Biden’s funding bill through the US Congress as providing an “inflection point” – although it is almost certainly too early to tell for sure. Reports from the battlefield are that Russian troops, mindful of the prospect ..read more

mark reinstein/Shutterstock Champagne corks popped on December 3 1989 as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president George H.W. Bush met on the cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, off the coast of Malta to declare the end of the cold war. Gorbachev and Bush’s predecessor in the White House, Ronald Reagan, had – at two summits over the past five years – thrashed out agreements that would limit and reduce both sides’ nuclear arsenals. With the cold war over, Gorbachev liberalised the Soviet Union, presiding over its dismantling, which formally occurred on December 26 1991. To those adversaries who a ..read more

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the country’s nuclear facilities at considerable risk. For example, on April 7 a drone attacked Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. This attack on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe was a rare instance of a direct assault on a nuclear facility. While both Ukraine and Russia deny responsibility for the drone attack, it’s clear that Russia’s ongoing invasion has put the site at active risk. Indeed, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, has called the attack “a major escalation of the nucle ..read more

Recent reports of a series of drone strikes on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have demonstrated the serious safety and security concerns at Europe’s largest nuclear power station. It has not been confirmed who is responsible for the strikes. Both Russia, which occupied ZNPP in March 2022, and Ukraine have pointed the finger at each other. But Russia has recently announced plans to restart the plant. This would greatly increase the danger of a nuclear accident, as operating reactors allow much less time before an accident occurs if they are damaged or their safety systems are ..read more

Flags for the United States and Ukraine billow outside of the Capitol building on April 23, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The Senate overwhelmingly approved a US$95.3 billion foreign aid funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on April 23, 2024, following months of political infighting that stalled the bill in the House of Representatives. About $61 billion of this aid package will be spent on Ukraine, while $26 billion will go to Israel. Another $8 billion is designated for Taiwan. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law within days. The Senate voted for the a ..read more

The idea that conscription, defined as the compulsory enlistment of citizens for military service, can increase equality and instil a sense of solidarity that transcends traditional societal divides has echoed throughout history. Several Nato member countries including Latvia have reintroduced conscription, and others such as Sweden and Estonia have recently extended it to reach more people, as the threat of a possible Russian advance increases. But what does history show us about how conscription is perceived by the wider public, and its influence on greater equality? The UK, for example, int ..read more

It took months of delays and desperate pleas from Ukraine, but the US House of Representatives has finally passed a bill authorising US$60 billion (£50 billion) worth of military aid to Ukraine. The bill is still subject to Senate approval and then needs to be signed into law by the US president, Joe Biden. But given the Senate’s previous approval of a similar measure and Biden’s vehemence of the need to support Ukraine, this should be a formality. So, will US support save Ukraine from what might otherwise have been an all-but-certain defeat? The answer is not straightforward. What is certain ..read more

Is Russian president Vladimir Putin guilty of the crime of aggression? In The Trial of Vladimir Putin, barrister Geoffrey Robertson answers that question by dramatising what might happen within the walls of a future courtroom. The question of whether Putin is guilty of aggression is fairly straightforward. Robertson’s book discusses that issue in detail but does not grapple seriously enough with harder questions, such as whether it would be wise to try Putin in his absence – while he remains at liberty in Moscow – instead of physically in the dock. Review: The Trial of Vladimir Putin – Geoffre ..read more

Ukraine is now experiencing a level of existential threat comparable only to the situation immediately after the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. But in contrast to then, improvements are unlikely – at least not soon. Not only have conditions along the frontline significantly worsened, according to the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, but the very possibility of a Ukrainian defeat is now discussed in public by people like the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, General Sir Richard Barrons. Barrons told the BBC on April 13 that Ukraine could lose the w ..read more

United Nations member states including the US, France, Germany, Albania and Rwanda will submit a resolution to the general assembly on April 17 which could have significant implications for the future of the western Balkans. The vote will call on the UN to declare July 11 the “International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide”. It’s significant, because the issue of the massacre of 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men at Srebrenica remains a bitterly contested memory in the region. The move has prompted fears that it will lead to a break-up of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After th ..read more