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Putin Past the Point of No Return | Finland's Former PM Alexander Stubb | GZERO World

Putin's Europe Problem

We're proud to announce that GZERO has won the Silver Telly Award for general political commentary for this episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer (which was originally published online March 21, 2022.)

The West is already at war with Russia.

NATO boots may not be on the ground, but the US and its allies are helping Ukraine with arms and cash, and by upping the pressure on Moscow with tough sanctions. Vladimir Putin knows this, but he's fighting a 20th-century war in 2022 — and losing on global PR and social media.

Meanwhile, the ripple effects of the conflict are spreading well beyond Ukraine's borders. And one country watching very closely is Finland.

On this episode of GZERO World, Ian Bremmer talks to former Finnish PM Alexander Stubb, who explains why his country has gone from longtime neutral actor to NATO hopeful.

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How Putin Created the Ukrainian Resistance | The Autocrat’s Curse | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

The Autocrat's Curse

Thrilled to announce that GZERO has won the Bronze Telly Award for general history for this episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer (which was originally published online May 2, 2022.)

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.

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TITLE PLACEHOLDER | World In :60 | GZERO Media

F-16s for Ukraine redefine red line for Putin (again)

Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer? What is holding up a debt ceiling deal? Will the EU's lawsuit against Meta lead to a data-sharing agreement with the United States? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Will Biden's reversal to allow F-16s to Ukraine be a game-changer?

Well, Putin says it is. Says that that would absolutely be a line that would be crossed and be irreversible. Of course, he said that about a bunch of things, and his credibility in a response to NATO providing defense to Ukraine has been significantly eroding over the last year. Of course, we also see not just F-16s, but we see Ukrainian armored troop carriers suddenly five miles deep in Russian territory, in Belgorod. The Ukrainians say it wasn't them, but they're very happy to embarrass Putin over that. Look, a lot of things that would've been seen as red lines six months ago now are not. Of course, that's good for the Ukrainians, but it also does mean that the tail risk dangers of this conflict are also going up.

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G-7 alignment & US political challenges | Quick Take | GZERO Media

G7 alignment & US political challenges

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here and a happy Monday. Quick take to start off your week as President Biden is back in the United States after the G7 Summit in Hiroshima.

What do we think? How did it go? Well, I mean a couple of very different takes. First of all, the G7 is enormously aligned, most particularly on Russia. I have never seen this level of outpouring of support. Every individual member of the G7 engaged personally with Ukrainian President Zelensky, the level of international aid coordination, diplomatic engagement, military support across the board continues to be at exceptionally high levels, not what Putin would've expected, not what the G7 would've expected before the Russian invasion, and that certainly helps to put Zelensky in a stronger position to negotiate with the Russians after a counter offensive over the coming months.

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Ukrainian offensive tests Russian defenses | World In :60 | GZERO Media

Ukrainian offensive tests Russian defenses

How is the Ukrainian counteroffensive going? Pro-democracy opposition parties swept the Thai elections. Will they be allowed to govern? Is Assad's invitation to COP28 a sign of Syria's return to the global stage? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

How is the Ukrainian counteroffensive going?

Well, it's just started. It's a little premature to ask me that question. Right now you're looking at probing attacks, artillery for the Ukrainians to try to assess where Russian defenses might be weakest so that when Zelensky gives the order for the full counteroffensive, it's starting, but not with masses of troops, that it's most likely to succeed. There is general optimism right now. The Russians are dug in along three lines of defense in southeast Ukraine. There's pretty significant optimism the Ukrainians will be able to break through one, at least maybe two of those lines of defense, which puts them in striking distance of artillery of the coast of the Sea of Azov, which means being able to threaten the land bridge to Crimea. That's a pretty big deal. It improves Ukraine's ability to negotiate if that happens after the counteroffensive is over.

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- YouTube

Trump sexual abuse verdict won't hurt him with GOP

Trump was found liable in lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll. Does this hurt his 2024 presidential aspirations? After his Victory Day speech falsely comparing his invasion of Ukraine to the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Putin losing domestic support? How might Imran Khan's arrest affect stability in Pakistan? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Number one, Trump was found liable in lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll. Does this hurt his 2024 presidential aspirations?

Found liable for sexual abuse and for defamation, not for rape. A civil case, $5 million he's going to have to pay. That is a horrible, horrible state of affairs for the former president of the United States. It's a stain on the country and it should matter, but it won't. It will be seen by his supporters as yet one more witch hunt, and his immediate response was, "I don't even know the woman," which is obviously untrue, but is a feature of his presidency and of his candidacy. Keep in mind, the people that are voting for him for the nomination are largely people that very strongly support him and very strongly oppose Biden. I suspect that if anything, this is going to have a negligible to slightly positive impact on the way he's likely to perform in the Republican primaries, and that is an insane thing to say.

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Wagner private mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin

REUTERS

Prigozhin’s meltdown

Last Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile and violent head of the Wagner Group private military force, announced he was pulling his fighters from the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut because Russia’s incompetent Defense Ministry wasn’t providing the ammunition his boys needed to take the city. He illustrated his point with a video that showed him walking among the corpses of many of his fighters.

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Xi plays peace broker | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Xi plays peace broker

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here and a Quick Take from Los Angeles of all places, but I want to talk about the latest, with the war in Ukraine.

We have seen a little bit more fighting over the last week, the Ukrainians facing more bombing against its civilians and unfortunately significant numbers dead, including children. And the Ukrainians with a drone attack against an energy and oil depot in Crimea with some pretty big explosions and damage to infrastructure presently held illegally by the Russians. In between all that, the big news of the week was Xi Jinping, President of China, finally belatedly, but importantly reaching out directly to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They spoke for an hour. It was, and be sure this was planned on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and coming out of it, the Chinese telling Zelenskyy that they would very much support doing a lot to directly provide economic support for reconstruction, but in return, they want to see a ceasefire: in other words, ending this war as soon as possible.

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