Wednesday, June 26, 2024, 10:56
Vladimir Putin is suffering on two different fronts: on the economic front, because the sanctions imposed on him by the Western sphere have forced him to look for alternatives to keep his financial system functioning and to find new buyers for the hydrocarbons that he can no longer send to Europe. by the Nordstream; in the military, because the invasion of Ukraine has become a war of attrition that is emptying its arsenals and it is not easy to avoid it with Russia’s industrial capacity alone.
So Putin has been forced to forge closer ties with countries on what George W. Bush would call the “new axis of evil.” China has become his economic lifeline, providing infrastructure for Russia’s financial system and a substantial increase in imports, Iran supplies drones and other weapons, and he has to buy artillery ammunition from North Korea.
It is a situation that is well reflected in the few official trips that the Russian president, constrained in his movements by the international arrest warrant that weighs on him, has made in recent weeks: first to China, the key partner, in mid-May ; and now North Korea and Vietnam.
Therefore, today we focus on the relationships that Putin forges to prevent Russia from becoming a pariah state.
These are the three topics we will address:
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Putin wants to resurrect the Soviet Union.
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Biden gives one of both lime and sand to immigrants.
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Sudan continues to bleed in the face of global indifference.
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The new axis of evil
Putin wants to resurrect the Soviet Union
Meetings between dictators always leave memorable moments that range between the comical and the surreal. This is the case of the trip that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un took in the luxury car that the former gave to the latter. A camera installed inside to provide material to the propaganda machines of Russia and North Korea recorded the moment in which the two leaders walked laughing – and without putting on their seat belts – through a perfectly maintained park. It would be funny if it weren’t for the fact that both subjugate tens of millions of people.
![Hey, Kim, isn't this a Mercedes from the perfidious West?](https://s1.ppllstatics.com/rc/www/multimedia/2024/06/26/Putin%20Kim%20Car%20KCNA%202-krrD--748x524@RC.jpg)
Hey, Kim, isn’t this a Mercedes from the perfidious West?
KCNA
If they meet it is because they need each other to continue doing so: Putin is short of artillery shells to continue crushing Ukraine, and Kim has full arsenals – even if it is with obsolete trash – because theoretically he is still at war with South Korea. On the other hand, Putin has cutting-edge technology to launch the satellites that Kim dreams of into orbit. This is what is considered a win-win in business terms, so they have not hesitated to sign a mutual security agreement like the ones Volodímir Zelensky signs with Western countries. Curiously, for the mass bath in Pyongyang, Kim and Putin chose a Mercedes-Benz.
Less clear are the objectives of the Russian president’s subsequent trip to Vietnam. In his own words, there he seeks to promote “a new security architecture for Asia.” And some have interpreted this phrase as an attempt to resurrect the Soviet Union’s network of influence and, more specifically, the ties he forged with countries in his ideological sphere. But, although he has signed agreements on energy matters with Hanoi, it does not seem that the Vietnamese are going to help Putin in his war adventure. Russia does not have the specific weight of the USSR, and globalization has caused in Asia a shift in its economic priorities, which are now much closer to the West, the destination of products that bring well-being to the population.
![Putin, who is nothing like a communist, exploits the old relations of the USSR. In statue, Ho Chi Minh.](https://s1.ppllstatics.com/rc/www/multimedia/2024/06/26/Putin%20To%20Lam%20Reuters-krrD--748x524@RC.jpg)
Putin, who is nothing like a communist, exploits the old relations of the USSR. In statue, Ho Chi Minh.
Reuters
In any case, Vietnam is one of the 120 states of the Non-Aligned movement, and it seems that the Russian president is trying to fish within it. In fact, India is one of those that has increased its purchases of Russian hydrocarbons the most, and Putin is aware that many of the countries in this group are reluctant to align themselves with traditional colonial powers. For this reason, he has also emphasized that there is no room for “closed military blocs.”
In this fishing in the waters of the Global South, Russia has additional bait: its civil nuclear technology. As a report from the Financial Times explains, the country has half of all the power plant construction projects in the world in its portfolio, and many of them are in developing countries that need them to cement their way out of poverty. These agreements, which often include project financing, represent a long-term commitment to Russia and an incentive to maintain good relations with the Kremlin. At least, so as not to anger Putin.
It is clear that the West has not been as successful as it hoped in its attempt to isolate Russia and collapse its economy. But it is also true that Moscow has not been successful as its propaganda would have it believe. It is a war of attrition in which, at least on paper, Putin can hold out for less time.
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Presidential elections in the United States
Biden gives immigrants a mixed blessing
The United States is already in the middle of the electoral campaign, and Joe Biden knows that he is at a disadvantage compared to Donald Trump. Because it doesn’t matter what crimes he has committed or what hoaxes the former president’s speech is based on, his followers adore him and are going to vote for him. Unfortunately for the Democrats, Biden is also not a figure who arouses much sympathy among his co-religionists, so he may increase abstention.
![Chaos on the southern border.](https://s1.ppllstatics.com/rc/www/multimedia/2024/06/26/Inmigrantes%20USA%20AFP-krrD--748x524@RC.jpg)
Chaos on the southern border.
AFP
The current leader is aware that immigration has become, just as in Europe, one of the throwing weapons of politics. And with his latest measure he tries to deactivate it: he offers the regularization of up to half a million undocumented immigrants who are married to US citizens – and about 50,000 descendants under the age of 21 – and who have been residing in the country for more than ten years. country.
From a European perspective, it is surprising that spouses of American citizens are not legal residents in the country. Especially if you take into account that, according to the White House’s own data, they have been living in the United States for an average of 23 years. The measure corrects an injustice that, without a doubt, will win Biden the vote of an important part of the migrant population.
![The tightening of asylum conditions has led to an increase in illegal crossings.](https://s1.ppllstatics.com/rc/www/multimedia/2024/06/26/Migrantes%20AFP-krrD--748x524@RC.jpg)
The tightening of asylum conditions has led to an increase in illegal crossings.
AFP
However, the president is also aware that even this group is against illegal immigration, which is why he emphasizes that the protection of the southern border, the one where Trump was going to build the wall that Mexico was going to pay for, is a priority. for your Executive. And this idea encompasses some of the measures highlighted by the Government: from increasing the number of troops patrolling the border to record levels, to prohibiting those who cross it illegally from applying for asylum.
Biden tries to play both sides. Try to win votes among Republicans who will not vote for Trump – between 20% and 30% depending on the state, according to an AP survey – without stirring up the most left-wing spectrum of Democrats – who are not very far to the left either -, who He welcomes the more humanitarian approach to the plight of the relatives of those who already have nationality. However, this will not be enough to secure a second term, far from it. And tomorrow all eyes will be on the first debate of the presidential candidates to certify it.
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War in Africa
Sudan continues to bleed in the face of global indifference
Although only two wars make their way into Western headlines, there is war far beyond Ukraine and Gaza. Not in vain, the conflict between two military factions in Sudan has now entered its fifteenth month, and the situation shows no signs of improving. On the contrary, Doctors Without Borders warned on Monday that the situation in the city of El Fasher is critical.
![The typical African war photo.](https://s2.ppllstatics.com/rc/www/multimedia/2024/06/26/Sudan%20AFP-krrD--748x524@RC.jpg)
The typical African war photo.
AFP
“Hospitals continue to be attacked and foreign aid cannot reach the city due to the intensity of the violence,” warns the NGO, one of the few with a presence in the area, which estimates the death toll in six weeks in more 260. For its part, Save The Children estimates the number of children victims of extreme violence at 1,500. They suffer, above all, sexual violence.
Because it is a war without ethical or moral standards of any kind. Two military factions, each more corrupt, fighting for their own interests and turning their backs on the citizens. Not even the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Action Forces make an effort to disguise themselves as some kind of ideology that justifies their barbarity. Maybe that’s also why it’s not interesting. Because it is always easier to take a position when savagery holds a banner with which we feel identified, even if deep down the war is more like that of Sudan.
Is all for today. I hope I have explained well some of what is happening out there. If you are signed up, you will receive this newsletter every Wednesday in your email. And, if you like it, it will be very helpful if you share it and recommend it to your friends.
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