Black Sea

The Fire That Didn’t Burn: Transnistria’s Unanswered Call for Russian Support

On February 28, the legislature of Transnistria, a pro-Russia, de facto independent state internationally recognized as part of Moldova, appealed to Moscow for “protection” from the pro-European government in Chisinau. This preceded Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual address the...

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Putin’s Warped Idea of Russian History

The total wartime losses of Russia and Ukraine are difficult to estimate. Neither country publishes accurate data, exaggerating the enemy’s losses and downplaying their own. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine allegedly lost 406,000 people killed and...

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NATO Needs to Get Serious at Seventy-Five

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently arrived in Washington seeking to persuade the White House and Congress to successfully negotiate legislation that would free up $60 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces.  He delivered his remarks...

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Navalny’s Death and the Future of Dissent in Russia

On February 16, Russian authorities announced that long-time opposition figure and Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, had died in prison while serving a nineteen-year-long sentence. Navalny, forty-seven, tirelessly challenged Putin’s corrupt, authoritarian regime, often at a high cost, and was...

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Can Europe Hold the Line on Ukraine?

When it comes to supporting Ukraine, the European Union has taken a decisive lead over the United States. On February 1, Brussels passed a massive, four-year, 50 billion euro (roughly $53.7 billion) package of aid to Ukraine. At the...

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Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine

  Key Findings Russia’s Black Sea Fleet’s supremacy on the Black Sea naval theater was contested in the early stage of the conflict. Ukraine’s anti-surface and drone capacities have challenged the Black Sea Fleet’s supremacy at sea, creating a...

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Membership Drive: The European Union’s Renewed Focus on the European Integration Project

The start of a new year is typically considered a time to “start fresh” with new goals. In that spirit, the European Union has decided to get a head start on pursuing an enduring one—European integration. On Dec. 14,...

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Central Asia’s Middle Corridor Expansion: Opportunity for China and Iran

The sustained attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since November 2023 have given a fresh boost to a budding Central Asian trade network known as the “Middle Corridor” and, in so doing,...

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Russia Steps Up the Competition in Africa

Amidst the smoldering wreckage of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane, it appeared that Wagner Group would suffer without its senior leadership, putting its African projects in jeopardy. Yet, Russia is stepping up in Africa after the demise of Prigozhin. What will...

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Testing European Unity on Ukraine

Ukraine’s counteroffensive appears to be stalling. Part of this derives from Western expectations that Ukraine would continue to make significant gains. The other main reason is Russian adaptation and the digging of massive trenches while Ukraine was preparing for...

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