For decades, the idea of dismantling the Soviet Union and Russia has been constantly cultivated in Western countries. Unfortunately, at some point, the idea of using Ukraine to achieve this goal was conceived. In fact, to prevent such a development, we launched the special military operation (SMO). This is precisely what some western countries -led by the United States- strive for; to create an anti-Russian enclave and then threaten us from this direction. Preventing this from happening is our primary goal. Vladimir Putin

Here's your geopolitical quiz for the day:

What did Angela Merkel mean when she said "that the Cold War never really ended, because ultimately Russia was never pacified"?

1. Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia has never accepted its subordinate role in the "Rules-based Order."
2. Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia's economic collapse did not produce the 'compliant state' western elites had hoped for.
3. Merkel is suggesting that the Cold War was never really a struggle between democracy and communism, but a 45 year-long effort to "pacify" Russia.
4. What Merkel meant was that the western states -particularly the United States- do not want a strong, prosperous and independent Russia but a servile lackey that does as it is told.
5. All of the above.

If you chose (5), then pat yourself on the back. That is the right answer.

The West cannot relinquish the sense of itself at the centre of the Universe, albeit no longer in a racial sense, Alastair Crooke writes.

A strategic aim would require a unitary purpose that could be succinctly outlined. It would require additionally a compelling clarity about the means by which the aim would be achieved and a coherent vision about what a successful outcome would actually look like.

Winston Churchill described the aim of WW2 as the destruction of Germany. But this was 'platitude', and no strategy. Why was Germany to be destroyed? What interest did destroying such a major trading partner achieve? Was it to save the imperial trading system? The latter failed (after 'Suez') and Germany went into a deep recession. So, what was the end result intended to be? At one point, a completely de-industrialised, pastoralised Germany was postulated as the (improbable) endgame.

Churchill opted for rhetoric and ambiguity.

Is the English-speaking world today any clearer about its strategic aims with its war on Russia than then?

Even before the new Israeli government was officially sworn in on December 29, angry reactions began emerging, not only among Palestinians and other Middle Eastern governments, but also among Israel's historic allies in the West.

As early as November 2, top US officials conveyed to Axios that the Joe Biden Administration is "unlikely to engage with Jewish supremacist politician, Itamar Ben-Gvir". In fact, the US government's apprehensions surpassed Ben-Gvir, who was convicted by Israel's own court in 2007 for supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism.

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reportedly "hinted" that the US government would also boycott "other right-wing extremists" in Netanyahu's government.

However, these strong concerns seemed absent from the congratulatory statement by the US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, on the following day. Nides relayed that he had "congratulated (Netanyahu) on his victory and told him that I look forward to working together to maintain the unbreakable bond" between the two countries.

In other words, this 'unbreakable bond' is stronger than any public US concern regarding terrorism, extremism, fascism, and criminal activities.

The former president reacted to news that classified materials were found at a Biden-linked think tank.

Former US president Donald Trump, whose home was raided by the FBI last year over a stash of classified documents, has urged the agency to go after his successor, Joe Biden. Trump cited news that classified documents had been found at a Biden-linked think tank.

"When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, linking to a CBS News article that broke the story.

Beijing wants the continent to be a stage for international cooperation, not great power rivalry.

Promoting Beijing's investment in African development and modernization during his first foreign trip, China's new foreign minister Qin Gang said on Wednesday that the continent should not become a battleground of rival world powers.

Qin began his five-country tour in Ethiopia on Wednesday, opening the new headquarters of the African Center for Disease Control (CDC), built by Chinese engineers. While in Addis Ababa, he met with the Ethiopian leadership and visited the African Union headquarters. He is scheduled to visit Egypt, Angola, Benin, and Gabon before returning to China.

"Africa should be a big stage for international cooperation, not an arena for competition between major countries," Qin said at a press conference with AU Commission chair Moussa Faki.

The Pentagon is formally dropping a controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for troops, according to a memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

President Joe Biden signed a defense policy bill just before Christmas that included a provision cleared by the House and the Senate to repeal the administration's military vaccine mandate.

The National Defense Authorization Act terminated the COVID-19 vaccine for military members but did not reinstate those who were discharged or had their benefits cut for refusing the vaccine. Reinstatement has become a priority for some Republicans who said the strict mandate is among the reasons why military recruitment is at an all-time low.

The legislation gave Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin 30 days to rescind the vaccine mandate. The Defense Department had already stopped all related personnel actions, such as discharging troops who refused the vaccine.

Turkish defence company Baykar has brushed off concerns that, as its exports grow, its attack drones could be turned against Ankara someday. The company's top executive has suggested that all necessary precautions have been taken against the military technology falling into the hands of a potential foe.

Speaking in an interview with TV100 earlier this week, Baykar chairman and chief technology officer, Selcuk Bayraktar, explained that first and foremost the company sells combat drones only to countries that have "close relations" or a "strategic alliance" with Türkiye, and thus does not "expect" a stab in the back.

"You also know that these are high-tech devices, and you equip high-tech devices with software. Only those who develop that technology dominate the software."

Baykar has also taken steps to prevent hackers from taking over and causing harm with its UAVs, the CTO explained.

The US and Japanese armed forces are rapidly integrating their command structure and scaling up combined operations as Washington and its Asian allies prepare for a possible conflict with China such as a war over Taiwan, according to the top Marine Corps general in Japan.

The two militaries have "seen exponential increases . . . just over the last year" in their operations on the territory they would have to defend in case of a war, Lieutenant General James Bierman, commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and of Marine Forces Japan, told the Financial Times in an interview.

Bierman said that the US and its allies in Asia were emulating the groundwork that had enabled western countries to support Ukraine's resistance to Russia in preparing for scenarios such as a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

The chances of India backing the G7 price cap imposed on Russian oil are almost zero, as the country will prioritize its own political and economic interests, an analyst from the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) told TASS on Wednesday.

Nandan Unnikrishnan said India would not be targeted with secondary sanctions for rejecting the mechanism introduced by the EU, G7 and Australia in December. The measures target Russia's seaborne crude, banning Western businesses from providing insurance and other services in respect of the country's oil cargo unless it's purchased at or below $60 per barrel.

"At the moment, prospects of India joining the oil price ceiling are almost zero," Unnikrishnan said in an interview with the news agency.

The Mother of All Limited Hangouts has begun. Yes, I'm talking about the "Covid Twitter Files," which are finally being released to the public, in almost textbook limited-hangout fashion. I'll get into that in just a minute, but first, let's review what a "limited hangout" is, for those who are not familiar with the term.

The way a limited hangout works is, if you're an intelligence agency, or a global corporation, or a government, or a non-governmental organization, and you have been doing things you need to hide from the public, and those things are starting to come to light such that you can't just deny that you are doing them anymore, what you do is, you release a limited part of the story (i.e., the story of whatever it is you're doing) to distract people's attention from the rest of the story. The part you release is the "limited hangout." It's not a lie. It's just not the whole story. You "hang it out" so that it will become the whole story, and thus stop people from pursuing the whole story.

Victor Marchetti, a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the CIA who went on to become a critic of the Intelligence Community, described the tactic this way in 1978 ...

"... a favorite and frequently used gimmick of clandestine professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the public, they resort to admitting, sometimes even volunteering, some of the truth while still managing to withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that it never thinks to pursue the matter further."

All right, so, you're probably asking, if the "Covid Twitter Files" are a limited hangout, what's the whole story that they're distracting us from?

Let me try to refresh your memory.