The war in Ukraine is a good cover for Putin's annihilation strategies.

March 8, 2023
By Amanda Macias

Washington - Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) is likely to further upgrade the Kremlin's arsenal of long-range nuclear-capable missiles in order to deter Kyiv and its powerful Western allies, U.S. officials warned Wednesday.

The warning from the nation's top spymasters comes as Russia intensifies its now year-long fight in Ukraine and as Putin threatens to withdraw from a key nuclear arms treaty.

"Throughout its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has continued to show that it views its nuclear capabilities as necessary for maintaining deterrence and achieving its goals in a potential conflict against the U.S. and NATO and it sees its nuclear weapons arsenal as the ultimate guarantor of the Russian Federation," the nation's top intelligence agency wrote in its annual threat report.

The unclassified 35-page intelligence assessment adds that Moscow will become more dependent on nuclear weapons following significant battlefield losses and punishing rounds of sanctions that have crippled the Kremlin's ability to finance its war machine....

It is time to treat Post-Soviet states as if they are just as important to Wall Street as China was treated. I realize there is a process to join the EU, but, that is a national dialogue, Wall Street is not a national dialogue. The Post-Soviet states have to be treated with the respect they deserve in taking on the world as autonomous entities and introduce a larger economy to them to nurture and bear fruit.

President Biden and other leaders of the Free World need to visit these countries as well as Ukraine. The Free World needs to talk to the people of these counties so they understand what a free and autonomous people can do both in prosperity, but, also in providing longevity which speaks to quality of life. The people need to hear it from the leaders that have their best interest in mind.

March 8, 2023

By Sophie Tanno and Niamh Kennedy

Protests have erupted in Georgia (click here) this week after the country’s parliament passed the first reading of a draft law that would require some organizations receiving foreign funding to register as “foreign agents.”

It has been compared to a draconian set of laws adopted in Russia and condemned by rights groups as a bid to curtail basic freedoms and crack down on dissent in the country.

The developments have sparked mass unrest, with thousands of demonstrators gathering outside Tbilisi’s parliament building on Tuesday night, waving not just the Georgian flag but also that of the European Union.

The country, which won its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has long been playing a balancing act between its citizens’ pro-European sentiment and the geopolitical aims of its powerful neighbor, Russia.

In March 2022, Georgia applied for EU membership – an ambition that may be jeopardized by the proposed legislation.

Here’s a look at what the controversial law means for Georgia, and how it reached this point....