Special Reports

  All Soviet efforts…will be negative and destructive in character, designed to tear down sources of strength beyond reach of Soviet control. This is only in line with basic Soviet instinct that there can be no compromise with rival...

  Download PDF Introduction  I arrived in Kyiv this July after a thirteen-hour overnight train ride in a clean but austere Soviet-era railway car. Since I couldn’t purchase a return ticket in Poland, immediately upon arrival at the train...

  Introduction The recent mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force, generated international concern about the control of Russian nuclear weapons and Russia’s future nuclear policy. Therefore we must ask, will Russia change its nuclear policy...

  The following is an edited transcript of a live recording of FPRI’s Chain Reaction podcast from the Changing Tides in the Black Sea conference, June 29, 2023. Listen to the recording here.  Recordings of all six panel discussions...

When the Taliban entered Kabul in mid-August 2021, the Central Asian governments, with the exception of the Tajik government, simply continued, to the extent possible, business as usual with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan temporarily closed its border crossings with Afghanistan, mainly...

  Key Takeaways Some of the critical vulnerabilities to Russia’s military operations and systems—revealed during the war in Ukraine—are due to its military culture and poor strategic choices at the beginning of the war including overly ambitious strategic aims....

Introduction More than one year after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine it has become clear that Russia’s security elite and President Vladimir Putin seriously underestimated both the resilience and combat capabilities of Ukraine and the willingness of an international...

  After the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the arms expenditures and military budget of Russia skyrocketed and continue to grow for the foreseeable future. However, the military industry is under threat Despite the...

Wagner Roadmap: Ten Recommendations to Fight the Group 1. The sanctions discussion needs to be expanded, as such designations should aim to shame Wagner’s state partners.  2. Sanctions lists should expand to include actors in third-party countries, such as...

  Executive Summary An unwillingness to decentralize decision making authority and a failure to communicate accurate information are the most consequential weaknesses at the state level that have contributed to the Russian military’s subpar performance to date in the...