Commentary

Bidzina Ivanishvili of the Georgian Dream coalition and Misha Saakashvili of the United National Movement are two large-than-life figures in Georgian politics. The 2016 Georgian parliamentary elections on October 8 will answer the question of which party's message...

On October 9th Lithuania will hold parliamentary elections. With no major mobilizing issue or charismatic persona in the race, the populace is expecting more of the same. The governing Social Democrat party (Socialdemokratai) continues to lead in the latest...

A better understanding of the Cold War fosters insights into the incentive structures of socialism in its “democratic” forms as well as some understanding into its seemingly eternal appeal to large portions of the population. Students who systematically study...

Transnistria, or the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), exists unsure of its place in the world. To its west, across the Dniester River, lies the breakaway region’s parent state, Moldova, and, beyond that, European Union (EU) member Romania. To the...

This piece, originally a lecture given at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, contextualizes the notion of exceptionalism by looking at how other states and societies had defined their place in the world and to ask what those historical examples had...

. Tsai must be pragmatic and diplomatic in order to get the results she hopes to achieve. Taking office in a tense political atmosphere, the new president must maintain the status quo with China if she hopes to initiate...

Exiled from his homeland and with a notorious intelligence agency attempting to assassinate him, one could excuse Makiya for claiming the mantle of victimhood. Yet, in an all-too-rare insistence on principle, he refused. In the preface to the 1998...

Shimon Peres: Inspirational or exasperating? Both. Wise or foolish? Both. Selfless or selfish? Both. Humble or egotistical? Both, in his own way. A complicated and contradictory man he was. One can only hope that, when all is said...

Despite its many problems, East Asia remains the principal global bright spot. Unlike the Middle East and Europe, where it is difficult to see a good outcome from their many problems, East Asia has the potential to continue to...

The intent of Russian strategic deception is to alter a target population's perception of reality in the interest of advancing some strategic objective or set of objectives. One Russian deception technique is disinformation, which includes intentionally misrepresenting events. Strategic...