For hundreds of years, people have debated whether syphilis came from the Americas or whether it, along with a number of closely related diseases, had a much longer history in Europe. Because the first undisputed outbreak was recorded in 1495, shortly after Columbus’s return, circumstantial evidence suggests an origin on the western shores of the [...]

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Russia, Mr Sherr says, “will, by political and intelligence means, exploit disarray, ineptitude and division. It will, through pressure, partnership and bribery, seek to control the entire value chain in energy supply, transport and distribution. It will, by means of hard and soft power, seek to transform the former Soviet Union into a ‘zone of [...]

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Three signs of the times, all reflecting a different aspect of the bluster and Soviet nostalgia that have become some of the most alarming aspects of the Putin regime.
1. The first is an announcement by Russia’s Defense Ministry that for the first time since 1990, army tanks and nuclear missiles will be part of [...]

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Taking part in U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe may improve trans-Atlantic relations and help NATO overcome its identity crisis, says a German military expert.
The year 2008 will see many decisions, not only in the United States. It’s also a year in which NATO is expected to decide the future of [...]

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There was, however, a second reason for America’s anger over the Chinese test. America is space’s pre-eminent military power. Or, more exactly, given that America has held back from putting weapons in space, it has used space to preserve and extend the pre-eminent military power it enjoys on earth. By using a missile to blow [...]

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Modern American warfare relies on satellites. They make America powerful but also vulnerable, particularly in light of China’s new celestial assertiveness
If Napoleon’s armies marched on their stomachs, American ones march on bandwidth. Smaller Western allies struggle to keep up. Much of this electronic data is transmitted by satellites, most of them unprotected commercial systems. The [...]

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Contemporary Russia is remarkably similar to post-World War I Germany. Both countries emerged from imperial collapse and regime change and experienced massive economic hardship and political chaos. Their populations felt humiliated and their imperial identities were battered, and they responded by blaming their enemies, former colonies, disloyal minorities — and democracy. Both countries turned to [...]

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to push this week for the construction of a web of pipelines that would cement Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy supplies.
The Kremlin has proposed making this former Soviet satellite [Bulgaria] a gateway for a major new natural gas pipeline, called South Stream, which could branch off in several directions, [...]

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Furthermore the public statements and actions of Iranian political and religious leaders make their pursuit of nuclear weapons a threat both within the region and, potentially, directly to us. Iran already actively sponsors terrorism and is constantly working to destabilize Iraq, Lebanon and Sudan. It has also called for the destruction of Israel. The consequences [...]

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In a wider context, China’s soft power seems integral to what may be a campaign to revive the Middle Kingdom, the China of yesteryear that dominated Asia. Chinese armies won’t march across international borders but rather Beijing seeks to acquire such political, economic and diplomatic clout that major decisions in every Asian capital will require [...]

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