by Prof. Glenn Diesen,* Norway
(14 April 2025) Cooperation in the Arctic has traditionally been largely immune to geopolitics. Even during the great power conflicts of the Cold War, cooperation in the Arctic continued for mutually beneficial collaboration and trust-building. This era appears to have come to an end.
by Pierre Lévy,* France
(4 April 2025) We can be grateful to Donald Trump for inadvertently provoking interesting admissions: when he argued that the EU was founded to “cheat” on the US, pro-European politicians cried out in outrage, pointing out that the bloc was created under Washington’s auspices.
by M.K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(21 March 2025) Through the past three-year period, Moscow claimed that it faced an existential threat from the US-led proxy war in Ukraine. But in the past six weeks, this threat perception has largely dissipated. The US President Donald Trump has made a heroic attempt to change his country’s image to a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy” with whom Moscow can be friendly despite the backlog of a fundamental dislike or suspicion.
by Karin Leukefeld,* Germany/Syria
(14 March 2025) (CH-S) Since his inauguration on 20 January 2025, US President Donald Trump’s activities in European countries have been observed and commented on with hope, horror or confusion. The development of the Ukrainian drama is currently at the centre of attention: even more war, destruction and death or a ceasefire, talks and peace.
by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs,* USA
(14 March 2025)(CH-S) In a much-acclaimed speech to EU parliamentarians at the invitation of MEP and German ex-diplomat Michael von der Schulenburg,** world-renowned economist Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs characterised the development of the war in Ukraine as a product of US foreign policy. He calls on the Europeans to emancipate themselves today and to shape an independent policy towards peace and economic prosperity. The “Swiss Standpoint” documents the full text of the speech on its homepage – in three languages.
by Thomas Röper*
(7 March 2025) (CH-S) The extent of destabilisation attempts by Western so-called NGOs in Serbia is alarming. Thomas Röper has researched it in the following article. However, it is only one example of many how Western foundations as well as state and non-governmental organisations try to push through their political ideas contrary to democratic procedures in other states. The fact that Switzerland is also involved in such projects in Serbia in the orbit of USAID and the EU is now coming to light.**