Russia continues to make strategic moves in the global chess game. Capitalizing on the weakened foreign policy of the United States, Russia continues to seize opportunities to exercise its power and influence across the globe. “More than two decades after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Moscow is once again seeking to play a major role in the country by boosting military and economic cooperation with Kabul” (Deutsche Welle, March 2, 2016).

The European Union is having a tough time at present. Not only has it had to deal with GREXIT (the possible exit of Greece from the Eurozone), and continuing debt problems in its southern member states, but the widely reported enormous refugee crisis as well. Now to add to its concerns, the EU faces both a possible BREXIT, with Britain leaving Europe, and unrest on its eastern fringes.