💉🌐 Vaccine diplomacy has not justified the hopes we had placed in it.
Belief in diplomacy as such and in its “vaccine spin-off” in particular instils optimism in an ordinary man. A mantra arises: we will create vaccines all together — we will be vaccinated — we will defeat the pandemic.
But in fact, large-scale international cooperation in the development of vaccine materials fails to transpire. Contrary to the declared unification of efforts of people of good will, we see simple geopolitical nationalism, writes Roman Reinhardt, Associate Professor at the Department for Diplomatic Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
🔗 Vaccine Diplomacy: Expectations vs Reality?
#vaccine #vaccination #diplomacy #geopolitics
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Belief in diplomacy as such and in its “vaccine spin-off” in particular instils optimism in an ordinary man. A mantra arises: we will create vaccines all together — we will be vaccinated — we will defeat the pandemic.
But in fact, large-scale international cooperation in the development of vaccine materials fails to transpire. Contrary to the declared unification of efforts of people of good will, we see simple geopolitical nationalism, writes Roman Reinhardt, Associate Professor at the Department for Diplomatic Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
🔗 Vaccine Diplomacy: Expectations vs Reality?
#vaccine #vaccination #diplomacy #geopolitics
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club
Vaccine Diplomacy: Expectations vs Reality?
Belief in diplomacy as such and in its “vaccine spin-off” in particular instils optimism in an ordinary man. A mantra arises: we will create vaccines all together — we will be vaccinated — we will defeat the pandemic. But in fact, large-scale international…
🤝🌐 The language spoken by the political elites of the leading countries of the world is not the language of money, institutions or laws, but the language of history.
History allows you to put yourself in a broad context of events and make strategic decisions based on the national experience of foreign policy. Far from all countries have preserved the principle of historicism in long-term planning. It was preserved only by the leading countries, which have retained the experience of great power politics, when the use of force is perceived as another tool to achieve a political goal along with others.
It is this parameter that leadership is determined today. It can be assumed that for this reason Russia’s negotiations with the United States will take place much earlier than with the EU, since there are no countries in Europe that could make their own big bet in the unfolding geopolitical game. It’s like playing in a casino not with your own money, but with candy wrappers from Monopoly: you lose the sense of responsibility for your decisions, there is no understanding that you will have to answer by yourself.
There are few countries in the world today that “play for their own”: Russia, the United States, China, Turkey, Israel, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Perhaps that is all.
The European foreign policy tradition has been severely devalued by the inflation of the “liberal dream”. Europeans have ceased to soberly understand the cause-and-effect relationships in the world’s power system of coordinates.
Diplomats must make sure from personal experience that the international system still exists, it is solid and based on military-political, not ideological realities, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
History allows you to put yourself in a broad context of events and make strategic decisions based on the national experience of foreign policy. Far from all countries have preserved the principle of historicism in long-term planning. It was preserved only by the leading countries, which have retained the experience of great power politics, when the use of force is perceived as another tool to achieve a political goal along with others.
It is this parameter that leadership is determined today. It can be assumed that for this reason Russia’s negotiations with the United States will take place much earlier than with the EU, since there are no countries in Europe that could make their own big bet in the unfolding geopolitical game. It’s like playing in a casino not with your own money, but with candy wrappers from Monopoly: you lose the sense of responsibility for your decisions, there is no understanding that you will have to answer by yourself.
There are few countries in the world today that “play for their own”: Russia, the United States, China, Turkey, Israel, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Perhaps that is all.
The European foreign policy tradition has been severely devalued by the inflation of the “liberal dream”. Europeans have ceased to soberly understand the cause-and-effect relationships in the world’s power system of coordinates.
Diplomats must make sure from personal experience that the international system still exists, it is solid and based on military-political, not ideological realities, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
Valdai Club
Personal Experience or Historical Knowledge? What Will Help Modern Diplomacy?
The historicism of diplomacy is not in memorising the “lessons” of history, but in the ability of a diplomat to put foreign policy decisions in context, to understand the systemic causes of international processes, and to be able to analyse these causes analytically.…
🤝🌐 In the context of the global crisis, diplomacy is experiencing a rebirth.
The modern age makes the job of a diplomat more difficult in two respects.
1️⃣ The first difficulty is the digital information space that we consume through smartphones. It makes the amount of information consumed a hundred times greater than it was a few years ago, in the pre-digital era, and makes special demands on realism, pragmatism, the ability to soberly assess incoming data, and the ability to communicate in this digital environment.
2️⃣ Second, the modern communication environment is very different, depending on the generation that diplomats are addressing. The generation born in the 60s, 80s and 2000s are different groups in terms of their worldview.
The changing modern world requires adaptation: it is important not only to preserve the traditions of teaching historical disciplines for future diplomats capable of managing crises, but also to prepare them for the perception of large flows of information that their predecessors did not encounter.
At the same time, however, the fundamental foundations that underpin systemic thinking should not be neglected — the representation of any situation as a system that works according to its own laws. A point of balance must be found in a system where the reached agreement is respected by all parties, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
The modern age makes the job of a diplomat more difficult in two respects.
1️⃣ The first difficulty is the digital information space that we consume through smartphones. It makes the amount of information consumed a hundred times greater than it was a few years ago, in the pre-digital era, and makes special demands on realism, pragmatism, the ability to soberly assess incoming data, and the ability to communicate in this digital environment.
2️⃣ Second, the modern communication environment is very different, depending on the generation that diplomats are addressing. The generation born in the 60s, 80s and 2000s are different groups in terms of their worldview.
The changing modern world requires adaptation: it is important not only to preserve the traditions of teaching historical disciplines for future diplomats capable of managing crises, but also to prepare them for the perception of large flows of information that their predecessors did not encounter.
At the same time, however, the fundamental foundations that underpin systemic thinking should not be neglected — the representation of any situation as a system that works according to its own laws. A point of balance must be found in a system where the reached agreement is respected by all parties, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
Valdai Club
Diplomacy Reborn: Strategist Skills for a New World
The core competencies of a diplomat still consist of the ability to realistically assess the situation based on sober thinking, rationality, pragmatism, to a qualitative analysis of one’s own interests as well as empathy, the ability to put oneself in the…
🌐 Probably only Russia among the classical European powers retained its diplomatic tradition.
Thanks to a strong school of diplomacy and a developed institutional environment for cultivating professional experience, Russian diplomats develop the ability to see the world pragmatically, and without ideological lenses, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/what-do-the-political-elites-of-ukraine/
#ModernDiplomacy #Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine
@valdaiclub
Thanks to a strong school of diplomacy and a developed institutional environment for cultivating professional experience, Russian diplomats develop the ability to see the world pragmatically, and without ideological lenses, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/what-do-the-political-elites-of-ukraine/
#ModernDiplomacy #Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine
@valdaiclub
Valdai Club
What Do Political Elites of Ukraine and the West Think – Is There Any Room for Dialogue?
Probably only Russia among the classical European powers retained its diplomatic tradition. Thanks to a strong school of diplomacy and a developed institutional environment for cultivating professional experience, Russian diplomats develop the ability to…
🔒🤝 Secret diplomacy is a unique form of diplomatic activity since it frequently involves concealing not only the diplomatic initiative from the public and media, but also from one's own government.
Diplomatic secrecy is typically categorized into three types.
1️⃣ First, strategic secrecy refers to agreements between sovereign states that are concealed from other states and the general public, including those of the parties to the agreement. The concept of strategic secrecy encompasses secrecy regarding the contents of negotiations, the contents of agreements, and the fact that agreements have been reached. The principle of strategic secrecy is one of the most fundamental aspects of security alliances, in which information is shared between limited countries with shared interests and mutual trust.
2️⃣ Second, operational secrecy pertains to the everyday relations of diplomats and the intentional concealment of information during other types of diplomatic relations, other than negotiations. The concept of operational secrecy is explained and defended as an integral part of diplomatic practice. In reality, however, it is difficult to define exactly what is being protected or who is being protected when confidentiality is maintained.
3️⃣ Lastly, there is official secrecy, when something is known but not acknowledged as such. It is critical to note that official secrecy is not limited to embarrassment and scandal that must be kept secret. Moreover, it refers to circumstances in which openly acknowledging a situation sets in motion an unintended consequence. Diplomatic relations are subject to the same level of secrecy as other forms of human interaction.
It is not appropriate to abuse diplomatic secrecy in international relations, as this would lead to a negative effect on diplomacy, which is the principal method of reducing tension in international relations, writes Valdai Club expert Ti Lan-An Nguyen.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/diplomatic-secrecy-in-the-21st-century-why-is-it/
#ModernDiplomacy #Diplomacy #WorldOrder
@valdai_club
Diplomatic secrecy is typically categorized into three types.
1️⃣ First, strategic secrecy refers to agreements between sovereign states that are concealed from other states and the general public, including those of the parties to the agreement. The concept of strategic secrecy encompasses secrecy regarding the contents of negotiations, the contents of agreements, and the fact that agreements have been reached. The principle of strategic secrecy is one of the most fundamental aspects of security alliances, in which information is shared between limited countries with shared interests and mutual trust.
2️⃣ Second, operational secrecy pertains to the everyday relations of diplomats and the intentional concealment of information during other types of diplomatic relations, other than negotiations. The concept of operational secrecy is explained and defended as an integral part of diplomatic practice. In reality, however, it is difficult to define exactly what is being protected or who is being protected when confidentiality is maintained.
3️⃣ Lastly, there is official secrecy, when something is known but not acknowledged as such. It is critical to note that official secrecy is not limited to embarrassment and scandal that must be kept secret. Moreover, it refers to circumstances in which openly acknowledging a situation sets in motion an unintended consequence. Diplomatic relations are subject to the same level of secrecy as other forms of human interaction.
It is not appropriate to abuse diplomatic secrecy in international relations, as this would lead to a negative effect on diplomacy, which is the principal method of reducing tension in international relations, writes Valdai Club expert Ti Lan-An Nguyen.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/diplomatic-secrecy-in-the-21st-century-why-is-it/
#ModernDiplomacy #Diplomacy #WorldOrder
@valdai_club
Valdai Club
Diplomatic Secrecy in the 21st Century: Why Is It Increasingly Violated?
A degree of secrecy is often considered an inevitable aspect of diplomatic exchange, a process that takes place in a variety of settings, from formal to informal, from public to private, as well as bilaterally and multilaterally. Secret diplomacy is a unique…
Media is too big
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🎥 According to Ana Maria Cetto, President of the Global Committee in Open Science from the UNESCO, is difficult to follow both sides in science diplomacy, the side of politicians and the side of scientists. They have different ways of thinking and reaction. And the science diplomacy looks a more rational way of thinking.
#valdai_podcast #diplomacy #science #UNESCO
@valdai_club
#valdai_podcast #diplomacy #science #UNESCO
@valdai_club
🌏 The fundamental basis of the Russian approach to the training of future analysts and diplomats is to instil in students a knowledge of the history, language and culture of the country of specialisation.
As the international developments of the past year show, there are at least two reasons why high-quality training of diplomatic personnel in Russia has not lost its relevance.
1️⃣ First, our interlocutors in the West are becoming skilled in toying with human emotions.
The era of globalisation has given mankind such an open information society that all people perceive themselves as participants in the international process: foreign policy developments affect people’s thoughts and feelings, turning them into the protagonists of international events. European politicians successfully press the “sympathy” and “solidarity” buttons on the dashboard in connection with various international events. The United States, Britain and some other Western countries, skilled in the information war, are now very good at directing the flows of emotional reactions of English-speaking citizens in the West, and in other regions of the world, to shape the way they perceive what is happening, for example, in Ukraine.
2️⃣ Second, the countries where the centre of gravity of world resources is gradually shifting, namely China and India, do not perceive the confrontation between Russia and the West as a redistribution of the world order, but only as the latest struggle within the West. That is, what is happening is perceived as a conflict within “white civilization”, as a dispute between economic entities.
It is necessary to strengthen the ability of young professionals to interact in a new information environment, where you need to take the initiative, to defend convincingly and firmly your own position; to conduct a discussion in such a way that your point of view looks like the closest approximation to the median of common sense: to be able to press the buttons of the interlocutor’s emotions, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/is-strategic-empathy-necessary/
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
As the international developments of the past year show, there are at least two reasons why high-quality training of diplomatic personnel in Russia has not lost its relevance.
1️⃣ First, our interlocutors in the West are becoming skilled in toying with human emotions.
The era of globalisation has given mankind such an open information society that all people perceive themselves as participants in the international process: foreign policy developments affect people’s thoughts and feelings, turning them into the protagonists of international events. European politicians successfully press the “sympathy” and “solidarity” buttons on the dashboard in connection with various international events. The United States, Britain and some other Western countries, skilled in the information war, are now very good at directing the flows of emotional reactions of English-speaking citizens in the West, and in other regions of the world, to shape the way they perceive what is happening, for example, in Ukraine.
2️⃣ Second, the countries where the centre of gravity of world resources is gradually shifting, namely China and India, do not perceive the confrontation between Russia and the West as a redistribution of the world order, but only as the latest struggle within the West. That is, what is happening is perceived as a conflict within “white civilization”, as a dispute between economic entities.
It is necessary to strengthen the ability of young professionals to interact in a new information environment, where you need to take the initiative, to defend convincingly and firmly your own position; to conduct a discussion in such a way that your point of view looks like the closest approximation to the median of common sense: to be able to press the buttons of the interlocutor’s emotions, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/is-strategic-empathy-necessary/
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
@valdai_club
Valdai Club
Is Strategic Empathy Necessary in the Era Of Information Wars?
It is necessary to strengthen the ability of young professionals to interact in a new information environment, where you need to take the initiative, to defend convincingly and firmly your own position; to conduct a discussion in such a way that your point…
⚔️ Hans Morgenthau, another prominent realist of the first half of the 20th century, wrote that war will not end until human nature is imperfect.
International relations are still well explained by the metaphors and maxims used in the History of the Peloponnesian War by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, when he commented on the rivalry between Athens and Sparta.
Russia’s break with the West is not a short-term phenomenon. Perhaps we are at the beginning of a long crisis that could last a decade or more.
The British historian Edward Carr once retrospectively described the 20-year period between the world wars as a “long crisis”. I admit that we are also at the beginning of a “new long crisis”, of which the Ukrainian crisis is only a part. It is also completely open whether or not everything will be limited to the conflict in Ukraine.
In the Russian tradition of training diplomats and analysts, disciplines are emphasised to make it possible to understand the true needs and interests of opposing partners. It is not necessary that if you understand them well, you will agree with them. This means that in the event of a conflict, you can, first, find a weak spot in the positions of the counterparty, and, second, let him understand that his needs can be satisfied in another acceptable way, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-ukrainian-crisis-as-a-laboratory/
#ModernDiplomacy #UkraineCrisis #diplomacy
🗣 🗣 🗣
International relations are still well explained by the metaphors and maxims used in the History of the Peloponnesian War by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, when he commented on the rivalry between Athens and Sparta.
Russia’s break with the West is not a short-term phenomenon. Perhaps we are at the beginning of a long crisis that could last a decade or more.
The British historian Edward Carr once retrospectively described the 20-year period between the world wars as a “long crisis”. I admit that we are also at the beginning of a “new long crisis”, of which the Ukrainian crisis is only a part. It is also completely open whether or not everything will be limited to the conflict in Ukraine.
In the Russian tradition of training diplomats and analysts, disciplines are emphasised to make it possible to understand the true needs and interests of opposing partners. It is not necessary that if you understand them well, you will agree with them. This means that in the event of a conflict, you can, first, find a weak spot in the positions of the counterparty, and, second, let him understand that his needs can be satisfied in another acceptable way, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-ukrainian-crisis-as-a-laboratory/
#ModernDiplomacy #UkraineCrisis #diplomacy
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Valdai Club
The Ukrainian Crisis as a Laboratory of World Politics of the 21st Century
It is difficult for us to conduct a dialogue with Westerners and more and more often there is nothing to talk about at all: they use clichés and ideological theses, stubbornly try to promote their narrow-mindedness, and are completely unprepared for a reasoned…
🎓🌐 Many discrepancies between the leading countries offering their solutions to world problems are rooted in this difference in worldviews.
By studying the teaching of international relations in different countries, we can note differences in the national epistemology of knowledge about the world. Many states rely on their own foreign policy experience, while others “import” this experience, borrowing foreign policy assessments from the countries which lead their coalitions.
The Russian approach to training diplomatic personnel and international relations students in general is based on the experience of Soviet diplomacy during and after the Second World War. In the mid-1940s, the leadership of the USSR realised the need to design the architecture of the post-war world order and, accordingly, prepare a new generation of diplomats to work in a changed international environment. Their tasks were to include laying the foundation of a new political order for the world, creating its institutional framework in the form of the UN, as well as establishing the format of interaction between the victorious states. At that moment, it was obvious that with the impending emancipation of new states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a large-scale expansion of the USSR's diplomatic corps was necessary, as well as the opening of new embassies.
Today we are seeing similar processes. Just 10 years ago, international relations graduates believed that they were graduating into an established, predictable world - in which all bilateral relations were fully established and all multilateral organisations were functioning. Students believed that they would find themselves in a routine foreign policy process, where there were no opportunities to express themselves.
Today, however, students, as in the 1940s, are again faced with the task of shaping a new world where the future of the world order will be determined, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/differences-in-the-training-of-international/
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
🗣 🗣 🗣
By studying the teaching of international relations in different countries, we can note differences in the national epistemology of knowledge about the world. Many states rely on their own foreign policy experience, while others “import” this experience, borrowing foreign policy assessments from the countries which lead their coalitions.
The Russian approach to training diplomatic personnel and international relations students in general is based on the experience of Soviet diplomacy during and after the Second World War. In the mid-1940s, the leadership of the USSR realised the need to design the architecture of the post-war world order and, accordingly, prepare a new generation of diplomats to work in a changed international environment. Their tasks were to include laying the foundation of a new political order for the world, creating its institutional framework in the form of the UN, as well as establishing the format of interaction between the victorious states. At that moment, it was obvious that with the impending emancipation of new states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a large-scale expansion of the USSR's diplomatic corps was necessary, as well as the opening of new embassies.
Today we are seeing similar processes. Just 10 years ago, international relations graduates believed that they were graduating into an established, predictable world - in which all bilateral relations were fully established and all multilateral organisations were functioning. Students believed that they would find themselves in a routine foreign policy process, where there were no opportunities to express themselves.
Today, however, students, as in the 1940s, are again faced with the task of shaping a new world where the future of the world order will be determined, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/differences-in-the-training-of-international/
#ModernDiplomacy #diplomacy
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🇫🇷 Reform of the French Diplomatic Service: Will It Help?
On April 16, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron signed a decree according to which, from January 1, 2023, two categories of senior ranks of the French diplomatic service, the so-called corps of plenipotentiary envoys and advisers on foreign affairs, were abolished.
At the same time, other specialized categories of civil servants, for example, the corps of prefects, are also being eliminated. All of them will now be lumped into a single “corps of state administrators,” which will number about 6,000 people. In practice, this means that now a diplomat with the rank of minister-counsellor can become a prefect of a department, and the prefect can apply for the post of ambassador in some country.
The authorities justify the expediency of such innovations by citing the need to give the state apparatus a more flexible, open, manageable and less caste-based character. In relation to the diplomatic service, the task is to facilitate access to it for a “wider profile” of civil servants.
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries, former colonies of France, which is especially painful for Paris, Ambassador Alexander Kuznetsov writes.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/reform-of-the-french-diplomatic-service/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #diplomacy
🗣 🗣 🗣
On April 16, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron signed a decree according to which, from January 1, 2023, two categories of senior ranks of the French diplomatic service, the so-called corps of plenipotentiary envoys and advisers on foreign affairs, were abolished.
At the same time, other specialized categories of civil servants, for example, the corps of prefects, are also being eliminated. All of them will now be lumped into a single “corps of state administrators,” which will number about 6,000 people. In practice, this means that now a diplomat with the rank of minister-counsellor can become a prefect of a department, and the prefect can apply for the post of ambassador in some country.
The authorities justify the expediency of such innovations by citing the need to give the state apparatus a more flexible, open, manageable and less caste-based character. In relation to the diplomatic service, the task is to facilitate access to it for a “wider profile” of civil servants.
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries, former colonies of France, which is especially painful for Paris, Ambassador Alexander Kuznetsov writes.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/reform-of-the-french-diplomatic-service/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #diplomacy
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Valdai Club
Reform of the French Diplomatic Service: Will It Help?
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries…
🇦🇫 February 15, 2024 marked the 35th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
This conflict had a serious impact on international relations, both in the surrounding region and throughout the world. It became a significant element in the escalation of the Cold War in the first half of the 1980s.
The diplomatic alignment of forces during the Afghan conflict of the 1980s is very indicative. Not all countries friendly to the Soviet Union (Romania, India, Nicaragua, etc.) agreed with its position. The opponents of the USSR were able to create a fairly strong coalition in the UN.
Incidentally, a somewhat similar situation has developed now, during the voting on Russia in the General Assembly in recent years, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-withdrawal-of-soviet-troops-from-afghanistan/
#GlobalAlternatives #Afghanistan #diplomacy
🗣 🗣 🗣
This conflict had a serious impact on international relations, both in the surrounding region and throughout the world. It became a significant element in the escalation of the Cold War in the first half of the 1980s.
The diplomatic alignment of forces during the Afghan conflict of the 1980s is very indicative. Not all countries friendly to the Soviet Union (Romania, India, Nicaragua, etc.) agreed with its position. The opponents of the USSR were able to create a fairly strong coalition in the UN.
Incidentally, a somewhat similar situation has developed now, during the voting on Russia in the General Assembly in recent years, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-withdrawal-of-soviet-troops-from-afghanistan/
#GlobalAlternatives #Afghanistan #diplomacy
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