UK Schools Targeted for Takeover by Muslim ‘Trojan Horse’

While media reports focus on Vladimir Putin’s next military move in Ukraine, the Russian president is deftly making economic changes to cushion the blow of international sanctions. He is also slowly pulling Russia away from the international financial system to promote greater economic self-sufficiency. Putin’s supporters, now estimated to represent about 80 percent of Russia’s population, do not worry about sanctions as long as Russian flags are flying in Ukraine.

Tit-for-tat diplomatic travel sanctions following Russia’s seizure of Crimea are playing out in unexpected corners of the Russo-American relationship, even in space. NASA this month instructed its employees to suspend direct communication with the Russians except for the operation of the International Space Station.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party has won what he and many commentators are hailing as a major victory in recent municipal elections. Yet Erdogan’s reputation as a reformer — more democratic than Islamist — and his plan to regain the regional influence of the Ottoman Empire lie in ruins, as do Turkey’s pretensions of joining the European Union.

The interim Ukrainian government’s decision to reject enormous price increases for natural gas shipments from Russia’s state-owned Gazprom (London: OGZD) threatens to drive the dispute to new heights. If the Kremlin follows through on its threat to shut down its pipelines to Ukraine for refusing to pay the outrageous 81 percent increase, the European Union’s ability to respond will likely be limited because the bloc depends on Russian oil and gas.

The Russian military’s swift and bloodless conquest of Crimea demonstrates the major strides it has made under President Vladimir Putin in the past decade. Improvements extend to both strategic nuclear and conventional forces, a measure of Russia’s long-term commitment to the modernization of its military.