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From foes to friends: NATO's history of absorbing its enemies
NATO and Russia have been enemies since the beginning of the Cold War. But could there be a time in the future where Russia is a partner, maybe even an ally? That's not happening any time soon, but if history is any indication, it's not such a crazy idea: alliance has absorbed its enemies before.
GZERO World goes back in time to the height of the Cold War, nuclear paranoia, and the formation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
Let's talk a walk down NATO memory lane. Don't forget to duck and cover.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Russia vs. NATO: Heightened risk of war
The Graphic Truth: How much it costs to supply Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, proponents of continued military aid to Kyiv say it’s a cut-rate investment for security while others wonder whether the cost is worth it. We look at how much the biggest suppliers spent on military aid to Ukraine as a percentage of their defense budgets last year.
A person wearing a protective suit sits in the Beijing Railway Station after China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions in Beijing, January 20, 2023.
Hard Numbers: China zeroes out zero, German tanks run low, Turkey jails a journalist, Greek train crash, police find ‘spiritual girlfriend’ in Peru
0 x 0: Remember China’s zero-Covid strategy? No you don’t, at least not if you’re the Chinese Communist Party, which is now aggressively zeroing out public mentions of the draconian lockdowns that kneecapped the country’s economy and provoked rare widespread protests against Xi Jinping. Here’s our own portrait of zero-Covid life from last spring.
62: Despite promising to give tanks to Kyiv, Germany and other NATO allies have struggled to rustle up enough of them — 62 to be precise — to fill two Ukrainian battalions worth. Part of the problem is that no one on the continent has planned for a major European land war in 30 years, so tanks, parts, and trainers are limited.
10: Turkey has sentenced a journalist to 10 months in prison for posting an unsubstantiated allegation that police officers and soldiers had sexually assaulted a young girl. This is the first jail term handed down under a new law meant to combat disinformation that critics fear will be used to stifle criticism of the government.
36: A train collision has killed at least 36 and injured dozens more near the city of Larissa in northern Greece. Railway employees reported that there were issues with electric coordination of traffic control, despite recent modernization of Greece’s railway system, which is operated by Italy’s state-owned railway company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiene.
1.5: The sentence you are about to read does not end the way you think it will: Police searching a delivery man who was acting drunk at a Peruvian archaeological site found in his backpack a 1.5-meter tall pre-hispanic mummy named “Juanita.” He said the mummy, which once belonged to his dad, lives with him as “a kind of spiritual girlfriend.” We love this LatAm remake of "Fin de Semana at Bernie’s.
US ban on Russian oil imports not coordinated with NATO allies
What are the ramifications of the US ban on Russian oil imports? Are there any surprises on Russia's released list of unfriendly countries? Also, is President Xi facing a hard wartime choice for China? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
First of all, what are the ramifications of the US ban on Russian oil imports?
A couple of things. First of all, the United States doesn't really get much oil at all from Russia. Oil product is a different story. Interesting to see where exactly that lands but it's definitely a significant message from the United States. Last week, the Americans weren't planning on that but given a lot of domestic pressure, including from Congress, the Biden administration decided to move on it. One problem I see is that this was not well coordinated with the Europeans, almost every other message so far in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been incredibly strong coordination between the Americans and the NATO allies. That is not the case here. And I think that is a challenge. The Europeans are not going to be willing or able to go nearly as far as the Americans because they have a hell of a lot more to lose and that potentially makes the NATO alliance look a little bit weaker on this issue. They're going to need to communicate well on it.
Are there any surprises on Russia's released list of unfriendly countries?
Well, surprise is just how many of them there are, frankly. I mean this is dozens of countries that are involved in sanctions, involved in providing military support for Ukraine and the Russians consider all those unfriendly, of course, Ukraine on the list too. I mean a little surprised to see countries like Monaco and Switzerland on that list because historically neutral and the Russians do an awful lot of business there. I will say that I think a lot more needs to be done in terms of the oligarchs, about half of their wealth is held outside of Russia. And it's not just the UK. It's also places like Cyprus. We've seen very, very little movement to actually squeeze and freeze a lot of those assets. They could be doing a lot more. It's an area that I'm going to be watching closely over the coming days.
Also, is President Xi facing a hard wartime choice for China?
Not in his view. In his view, I mean he's got Chinese media that are actually embedded with Russian soldiers fighting on the ground in Ukraine, strict censorship regime, nothing pro-Ukrainian, nothing anti-Russian in terms of the war on the ground in China. The Chinese strategically are aligned very much with the Russians here and not with the United States and the West. Now they want to portray themselves as being more neutral, being more constructive. You can still do business with the Chinese but the reality is, and they still, they very much would like to see a negotiated settlement to this conflict. They don't want a second Cold War, but to the extent that the fighting is continuing, it's very clear which side of the battle that they are actually on. And this is a problem ongoing for the Americans and the Europeans. Very interesting to see Xi Jinping talk to both Macron and Scholz in the past hours to say, "Hey, we'd like to be involved in any diplomatic settlement." I'm certain that would've been prepped with Putin in advance of Xi Jinping making that announcement.