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Publications

Reuf Bajrovic

Securing and Protecting Bosnia Amidst Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

March 29, 2022

The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine has renewed worries that the country will use its proxies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to open a second front against the West in the Western Balkans. Michal Baranowski, director of the German...

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Ivan Ulises Klyszcz, Harold Chambers

Kadyrov’s Ukraine Gamble

March 28, 2022

A series of bizarre theatrics involving Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close circles preceded his decision to invade Ukraine on February 24. In a recorded message broadcasted on February 21, members of the Security Council were visibly nervous. Even Minister...

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Felix K. Chang

China’s Belt and Road Initiative Meets Slowing Global Trade

March 28, 2022

During the early 2010s, developing countries were keen to get in on the global trade boom that brought prosperity to many countries, most famously China, over the prior quarter century.  At the Asian-African Conference in 2015, Chinese General Secretary...

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Vitali Shkliarov

Lukashenka’s Fatal Mistake

March 25, 2022

Translation by Griffin Perrault  The Belorussian ambassador was recently kicked out of Ukraine. Lukashenka has fully surrendered to Putin – his country’s debt is in the red – and he will not receive one cent more from Moscow until...

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Bruce Pannier

Understanding Central Asia’s Cautious Approach to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

March 25, 2022

The governments in Central Asia are treading cautiously in their remarks about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Central Asia, too, was part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, and, when some in Central Asia see the news from Ukraine,...

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Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Waiting for the Documents: The Function of U.S. National and Defense Strategic Documents

March 24, 2022

We are anxiously awaiting the release of a new National Security Strategy (NSS) from the Biden administration, from which more detailed strategies will be crafted that will lay out the challenges and priorities for the U.S. national security establishment....

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Richard Kraemer

Serbia on the Edge

March 23, 2022

  Executive Summary The time has come to openly regard the Republic of Serbia for what it is: A stalwart Russian and Chinese ally run by a semi-authoritarian government that proactively pursues ideologically irredentist territorial expansion in the Western...

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Shay Stautz

The Invasion of Ukraine Shows China’s Inability to Lead

March 22, 2022

Editor’s note: Arthur Waldron, writing in Orbis in spring 2019, offered his “Reflections on China’s Need for a ‘Chinese World Order.”’ This essay from Shay Stautz examines how those aspirations have fared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of...

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András Tóth-Czifra

Control, Development, Legitimacy, and the 2024 Problem: Russia Two Years Before the End of Putin’s 4th Term

March 21, 2022

  This paper was finalized before the Russian Federation launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. While the ongoing war and the extensive economic sanctions adopted against Russia will affect many of the circumstances discussed throughout the...

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Raphael Parens

The Wagner Group’s Playbook in Africa: Mali

March 18, 2022

Introduction  What is the Wagner Group doing in Mali? Since it rose to prominence after its involvement in the Syrian Civil War alongside the Assad regime, Wagner Group, a Russian-owned Private Military Contractor (PMC), has expanded its footprint into...

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