Black Sea

From the Migrant Crisis to Aggression in Ukraine: Belarus is Still on the Baltic Agenda

As Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth month, a significant date has recently passed in another country — Belarus. May 23 marked one year since Belarusian authorities hijacked a commercial Ryanair flight transporting passengers, including Belarusian opposition figure Roman...

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Two Less Obvious Lessons for Baltic Defense from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reaffirmed NATO’s purpose and the importance of collective defense. It has also pushed defense of the Baltic states back into the alliance’s limelight. The key lesson so far has been that more military power...

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The Shifting Political Hierarchy in the North Caucasus

Russians are not the only ones participating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the BBC Russian Service, 321 servicemen from the North Caucasus (i.e., the Russian republics of Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan) are confirmed...

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Security Challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean

Introduction On May 2–3 2022, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Syria/Iraq Office and the Foreign Policy Research Institute convened a panel of foreign policy experts for a dialogue on security challenges present in the Eastern Mediterranean. The first day addressed state fragility...

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Climate Action Meets Energy Security: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine Adds a New Dimension to Energy Transition

Editor’s Note: This article by FPRI Senior Fellow Anna Mikulska is a product of a workshop on “The Global Order after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House on April 14, 2022.  ...

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The War’s Impact on Russia’s Economy and Ukrainian Politics

Editor’s Note: This article by FPRI scholar Mitchell Orenstein is a product of a workshop on “The Global Order after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House on April 14, 2022.   Moscow...

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The Evolving Political-Military Aims in the War in Ukraine After 100 Days

  Russian war aims have contracted from conquering Ukraine to simply expanding the territory of the statelets it supposedly went to war to protect. By contrast, Ukraine’s war aims have grown from survival to the recovery of all territory...

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How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine has Affected Kazakh Politics

In January, everything changed in Kazakhstan. A series of demonstrations rocked the country, spreading from its oil-rich west to the commercial and cultural capital, Almaty. The protests exploded out of long-simmering demands for a fairer distribution of Kazakhstan’s wealth...

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Japan-Russia Relations After the Russian-Ukrainian War

Technically, Japan and Russia are still at war. Although Japan surrendered to the Allies in September 1945, ending World War II, Moscow and Tokyo have never signed an official peace treaty. A territorial dispute over four islands between Japan’s...

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Russia’s Use of Cyberattacks: Lessons from the Second Ukraine War

Russia, probably more than any other leading power, launches cyberattacks against other countries as a matter of routine. Sometimes, Russian cyberattacks accompany military action, as in the current war in Ukraine. At other times, Moscow uses cyberattacks to disrupt...

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