donbas

The Autocrat's Curse

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

The Autocrat's Curse

Two months ago, Joe Biden said invading Ukraine would cost Russia and Vladimir Putin dearly. Since then, not much has gone Putin's way. But can he climb down without a win he can sell back home? While the Russians focus on the Donbas, the US now seems to think it can make Russia lose — which could trigger an escalation if Putin feels he's out of options. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to political scientist Ivan Krastev, who believes Putin has the autocrat's curse: his back is against the wall because he can't be perceived as weak.

Nuclear weapons could be used; Russia's war gets more dangerous

Nuclear weapons could be used; Russia's war gets more dangerous

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: I have to talk about Russia. There's Brazil, there's United Kingdom, there's Iran, but Russia is the biggest story, and it's because we've just seen the worst week in the war in terms of escalation and danger since the initial invasion on February 24, 2022. President Putin's closest remaining friends on the global stage - the Indian prime minister, the Chinese president, the Kazakh president - all told him directly, "the war is a horrible idea. Please end this as soon as possible." Putin does exactly the opposite and escalates, calling up a minimum of 300,000 additional troops in a mobilization, something he had been dragging his feet on and avoiding because he knew how unpopular it would be in Russia.

Macron's speech weakens the West's unity against Putin

Macron's speech weakens the West's unity against Putin

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: French President Emmanuel Macron in his speech called on NATO, the international community, as we occasionally call it, though a narrower version thereof, not to humiliate Putin and Russia in the war. And furthermore, Macron saying that he is willing to, interested in, wants to, facilitate negotiations after the fighting concludes between the West and Russia. There's a lot going on here. I consider it a problematic public statement because it implies that the West is not holding together well.

Europe’s oil sanctions and a shifting Russian war narrative to come

Europe’s oil sanctions and a shifting Russian war narrative to come

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: In the last 24 hours, the sixth round of sanctions agreement coming from the Europeans, most importantly, essentially an oil boycott. Two thirds of all the oil that Europe gets from Russia is going to be cut out. And if you add to that, what the Germans and the Poles are doing, their pledges to wind down their own pipeline imports by the end of the year, you're talking about 90% of Russian crude to Europe is now going to be boycotted.