Jul 232026
Thirty-Five Minutes in Manila Expose the Boundaries of Open Diplomacy
Lavrov and Rubio met in Manila for about thirty-five minutes, with no joint statement and no public results.
Podcast: The Duran
32 articlesAnalysis articles from this podcast.
May 232026
The Iran Impasse: No Stockpile to Strike With, No Nerves to Outlast Tehran
The week's headline news is an Axios report on a difficult Trump-Netanyahu phone call, but Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris argue the real story is structural: the United States and Iran are…
May 172026
Putin's Terms After Donbas: Ultimatum, Odessa, and the Question of Kiev
When the three-day Victory Day ceasefire ended, Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris returned to the judgment they have held for months: this war is not stuck.
May 172026
Why the Yermak Case Returned: Corruption, Leverage, and Ukraine's Defense Money
The episode begins with Andriy Yermak under renewed legal pressure, but Alexander Mercouris does not treat corruption around Volodymyr Zelenskyy's circle as a new discovery.
May 162026
Did Sanctions Fail to Break Russia's Economy? Separate the Data, the Explanation, and the Speculation
The episode begins with a sharp contrast. European officials are described as preparing stronger sanctions because Russia's economy is supposedly close to collapse.
May 142026
Ceremony, Deals, and the Strategic Questions the Trump-Xi Summit Left Open
The Beijing visit looked cordial. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping exchanged friendly language, attended formal events, and avoided visible confrontation.
May 132026
The Beijing Summit's Reversed Leverage
The episode treats Donald Trump's Beijing visit as a negotiation whose balance changed before it began.
May 122026
Putin's Closed Door to Europe—and His Remaining Channel to Washington
The episode opens with a claim about an unusually direct act of deterrence before the Victory Day celebrations.
May 112026
After Starmer: The Blairite Plan for Succession Without a Change of Course
The episode begins from a political setback rather than a confirmed leadership contest.
May 102026
The Three Battlefields Test More Than Just Weapons
Alexander Mercouris originally wanted to compare two wars: the intense, policy-driven conflict between the United States and Iran, and Russia's slow, systematic advance in Ukraine.
21–30 of 32 articles