Special Reports

Special Reports provide in-depth analysis on a particular topic or issue and provide policy recommendations.

Turkey’s Black Sea Policy: Navigating between Russia and the West

The heart of distrust Ankara feels towards the West lies in an existential issue: Western tolerance, and at times support for, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist-Leninist, and more recently, Kurdish nationalist insurgency. The PKK is recognized as...

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Can China Help GUAM Diversify Away from Russia?

Established in 1997, GUAM—a platform named after its members Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova and originally created to improve multilateral collaboration between member states—is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Despite this milestone year, the organization now lacks a clear...

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Assessing Baltic Sea Regional Maritime Security

Russia’s increasingly assertive behavior in Europe has raised concerns about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) readiness for its principal mission of ensuring the security of its member states. The invasion of Ukraine in 2014 has gathered the most...

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The Changing Geopolitics of Natural Gas in the Black Sea Region

Russian dominance over natural gas deliveries into Europe has been weakening, thanks in large part to the new ways in which natural gas can be transported as well as new sources of supply. These developments are transforming the geopolitics...

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Russia’s Black Sea Strategy: Restoring Great Power Status

The importance of the Black Sea region to Russian security has risen over the past decade from an area of general concern to a central theater of national defense and power projection. Russia’s security needs and stated intentions reflect...

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The Black Sea as a Battleground for Information Warfare: A View from Bucharest

Most countries in Southeastern Europe consider the Black Sea a more reliable ally than one another. This attitude speaks to the failure of many cooperation initiatives in the region. But recently, not even the Black Sea serves as a...

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Crimea and the Art of Non-Recognition: A Baltic Analogy

Throughout his campaign, transition, and brief tenure in the White House, President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to repair ties with Vladimir Putin and Russia. One potential requirement for a “reset” may involve recognition of...

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Why the Black Sea?

When Americans think about the world, they divide it into discrete regions: Europe, spanning from Norway to Greece; the Middle East, stretching from Morocco to Iran; and the Asia-Pacific, covering Japan through Indonesia, or sometimes even to India. This...

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Islamists and Autocrats: What the Next Administration Needs to Know about Egypt

Usually we think of Egypt's political future as a contest between secular autocrats, on the one hand, and Islamists, on the other. In doing so, we misapprehend both the autocrats and the Islamists, and Dr. Rock-Singer explains how—and...

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Foresight into 21st Century Conflict: End of the Greatest Illusion?

The number of conflicts is again on the rise as both states and violent actors contend for influence and seek to establish their position. Contrary to optimistic depictions of the present international system, there are powers seeking to alter...

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