Russia's aircraft carrier in Central Europe

Glossary of difficult words

to equate - to consider one thing to be the same as or equivalent to another;

crony capitalism - a system in which success in business depends on close relationships between individuals and government officials;

predilection - a bias in favor of something;

kudos - praise and honor received for an achievement;

disaster politics - (in this context) the practice of invoking the threat of disaster to push through policies that otherwise would not be possible.