YES – THE WORLD IS MESHUGGE
From jpost.com
While President Trump signed deals with Gulf partners, Putin courted partnerships among the world’s Muslim nations in an attempt to reshape global trade dynamics.
Shaheen said that greater economic cooperation and integration among regional countries would help strengthen ties, enhance regional security and stability, and benefit the lives of ordinary Afghans.
Leonid Savin, a Moscow-based geopolitical expert and chief analyst at the Tsargrad Institute, noted that Russia’s expanding ties with China, Iran, North Korea, and the countries of southeast Asia contributed to the Kremlin’s interest in strengthening relations with the Taliban. “Afghanistan’s geographic position makes it an important regional hub,” he told The Media Line.
Russia previously delisted Taliban as terror group
Brussels-based geopolitical expert Andy Vermaut described the Taliban’s presence at the forum as “a calculated step toward mutual economic cooperation.” “For Russia, it’s a strategic move to legitimize deeper ties with Afghanistan, as it delisted the Taliban as a terrorist group,” Vermaut told The Media Line.
He noted that Russia’s attempt to woo the Taliban might cause trouble with partners who are nervous about Afghanistan’s instability.
The forum took place at the same time as US President Donald Trump’s tour of the Gulf, highlighting the two countries’ different approaches to engagement with the Middle East. Moscow’s strategy focuses on shared economic interests, particularly energy and infrastructure, with the Kremlin attempting to build alternative alliances, diversify partnerships, and counter the US-led trade bloc.
Erik Lehmkuhle, an Atlanta-based political analyst, told The Media Line that Putin now faces the challenge of proving Russia’s economic value to the Islamic world amid $4 trillion in US-Gulf investments. He said that President Trump’s high-profile visits to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates could cast Putin in a comparatively weaker light.
Despite Russia’s comparative weakness, some international actors like the Taliban still view Russia as their only viable option for international engagement, he noted.
Azeem Khalid, an international relations expert from New York, similarly said that the recent high-profile US investment by Gulf nations consolidate the perception of the US as the global leader in business, economic partnerships, and innovation.
“Russia is no longer a peer competitor to the United States across political, economic, or strategic domains,” he told The Media Line.
Savin said that Russia is supporting a shift toward a multipolar world and backing efforts to reduce reliance on the US dollar.
Unlike President Trump, who gets countries to follow his agenda through pressure, “Putin is doing something different,” he said. “There’s no pressure or interference in domestic matters, just a rational, pragmatic approach that offers various options from technological and military cooperation to humanitarian and cultural exchanges.”
Ahsan Qazi, a San Francisco-based sociopolitical expert, characterized the difference in strategy between the US and Russia somewhat differently. While the US forms coalitions with established powers as a way of maintaining hegemony, Russia expands its reach through engagement with isolated regimes and emerging markets, he told The Media Line.
Central Asian republics, which have a common history with Russia, seem to be key emerging markets for Russia to tap. But Khalid cautioned that ties with such countries do not yet suggest the formation of a viable counterbalancing political or economic bloc.
“At this stage, the idea of a cohesive Russia-led alliance remains speculative,” he said.
