Commentary

Following a twenty-year war shrouded in bloodshed, the United States military pursued a messy withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. This abrupt troop evacuation, coupled with the Afghan government’s unsuccessful ceasefire and the 2020 Doha Agreement, has empowered the...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional organization consisting of ten Southeast Asian member states. Established in 1967, it aims to promote economic and security cooperation in the region. The annual rotation of the ASEAN chairmanship...

The Federation of Security and Defense Industries of Latvia recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. Although the military industry in Latvia predates the federation, the industry has grown markedly in the last decade. The military industry in Latvia has developed...

On May 31, 2023, the parliament of Latvia will attempt to elect Latvia’s next president. The presidential race that has just started has already had some rather dramatic twists and turns.   First there were two candidates: The right-wing nationalist...

Does Latvia intend to expel Russian citizens who currently live in Latvia but do not speak Latvian? What do recent amendments to Latvia’s Immigration Law, which were adopted last autumn, provide with regard to language acquisition, and what is...

A year has passed since Russia escalated its war against Ukraine to a full-scale invasion. When writing about the first Latvian reactions to the Russian attack, we noted the geographical proximity with both aggressor and victim made Latvians feel...

West Africa has recently been rocked by military uprisings. In the past three years, rogue soldiers have overthrown the presidents of Mali (August 2020 and May 2021), Guinea (September 2021), and Burkina Faso (January and September 2022). The confluence...

On Dec. 1, Aleksey Korostelyov, the host of Russian opposition TV channel Dozhd (TV Rain) broadcasting from the Latvian capital Riga invited his viewers to share testimonies about Russia’s mobilization process and problems in the Russian army. At the...

The Ukraine grain deal, formally known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, is a joint agreement by Russia, Ukraine, and Türkiye that promises a safe Black Sea corridor for commercial ships to export grains from Ukraine under the supervision...

Among the numerous casualties of the 2022 Latvian elections was the liberal upstart Development/For! (Attīstībai/Par!) electoral alliance. It entered the Saeima in 2018 promising an ambitious slate of social reforms. In the October 2022 parliamentary elections, Development/For! lost all...