In Zbigniew Brzezinski’s The Grand Chessboard, published in 1997, the year NATO expansion began, the Polish-American sovietologist described post-Soviet Russia as a „black hole.“ As we all know, a black hole draws any and all objects into it once they enter their field of gravity. It turns out that Ukraine has beome the world’s black hole, with Russia and all the world affected by the conflict. Effects include but are not limited to a restructuring of the international system and a split oft he world into two camps, a weakening and redirection of trade relations, a brerakdown in consideration of international law, and growing authoritarianism worldwide. In brief, the NATO-Russia Ukrainian War is dragging much of the world into the conflict directly or indirectly. In some cases, participation — however attenuated or indirect – is already leading to deepening involvement. In the event the war continues, many countries will be dragged inexorably beyond indirect action (military and other forms of assistance) and then direct action (military participation), including perhaps open combatant status. It is how these latter two aspects related to military-related support of and direct military participation in the conflict are overlapping with or helping to revive other conflicts that I attempt to address below.

From Russia’s perspective, the increasingly serious talk about Western/NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine (even if they operate on a non-NATO mandate) is already concerning enough, but its threat perception would further worsen through Polish participation in such a mission.

How the war could come to a close next year.

The incoming president told Time he “strongly disagrees” with firing U.S. missiles into Russia, words that could soothe nuclear tensions between Washington and Moscow, reports Joe Lauria.

In Kyiv, a former soldier begs for money as he awaits official veteran status that would ease his plight. There are thousands of others like him.

President-elect tells French and Ukrainian leaders he would want European troops to be present in Ukraine

Politico ran the headline, “Ukraine Peace Plans Galore.”

Ian Proud was a member of His Britannic Majesty’s Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. He served as the Economic Counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow from July 2014 to February 2019.

Two steps forward, one step back on negotiations, while Biden plows more weapons into Ukraine

As Russia gains ground on the battlefield in high-attrition combat, Zelensky is facing increased pressure to deploy younger people to the front lines.