To Russia’s chagrin, Israel and Ukraine improve diplomatic ties

The relationship between Ukraine and Israel dates back to 1947, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. It was more widely recognized back then as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Ukraine was one of 33 states that pressed for a Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine during the U.N. Partition Proposal in 1947. The Soviet […]

The world has returned to Great Power politics

Threats to American civil life come from domestic sources: natural disasters, car crashes, the opiate crisis, and economic downturns, just to name a few. Bee stings kill (exponentially) more people than foreign-born terrorists do every year in the United States. Vast oceans and friendly neighbors have much to do with the lack of conflict, war, […]

Check out the 3-barrelled machete gun carried into orbit by Russian cosmonauts until 2006

Here in the United States, there’s a certain image of the Astronaut’s journey we’ve grown accustomed to: a dramatic launch, a majestic weightless experience, turbulent reentry, and finally, a splashdown somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. From there, America’s Navy swoops in, picking up the floating Astronauts and their capsules (barring an embarrassing incident like Gus […]

This Soviet Space Shuttle, based on stolen specs, had one successful orbital flight

Today, with companies like SpaceX, Blue Horizon, and Boeing working tirelessly to find ways to reach the stars for less money, it’s become a commonly accepted truth that the space shuttle, while ambitious and an incredible feat of engineering, was never the economic answer to maintaining an orbital presence. The shuttle program was an immense […]

Trump scraps missile treaty with Russia after years of Russian violations

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty — a document widely known today as simply the INF treaty. The breadth of the treaty pertained to ground-launched, medium-range missiles that could engage targets between 300 and 3,400 miles away. It was part of a broader […]

Analyzing the politics behind the Russian nerve agent deaths in the UK

The UK government announced this week that it had concluded its investigation into the attempted assassination of former Russian military intelligence officer turned double agent, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury, England, earlier this year. Skripal and his daughter were both exposed to a Soviet era nerve agent known as Novichok — a weapon devised specifically by […]