Black Sea

Exclusive Interview: Russian Dissident and Former Duma Member Ilya Ponomarev

The following is a transcript of FPRI’s event with Russian dissident and former Duma member Ilya Ponomarev on January 28, 2022. Carol “Rollie” Flynn: Good afternoon and thank you for coming today. I’m Rollie Flynn the president of the...

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How Will China Respond to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis?

  Introduction  How will China respond to a potential Russian military escalation against Ukraine? Relations between Russia and China have intensified in recent years, with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping holding regular summits and the two countries’ militaries participating...

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Editor’s Corner Winter 2022

Access the Winter 2022 of Orbis here. First, we need to remedy a serious oversight in not recognizing the editors who assembled the Fall 2021 special issue of Orbis, “Emerging Voices: Catalysts for Change,” developed under the aegis of...

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Advice on Ukraine

In the Spring 2022 issue of Orbis, we are pleased to feature a conversation with the Honorable Dov S. Zakheim, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign...

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Moscow’s Compellence Strategy

How ambitious are Russia’s foreign policy objectives, and how much force does Moscow believe it must employ to achieve them? Moscow has submitted various ultimatums, but the most critical and pressing issue is that the Kremlin now regards Ukraine...

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Germany’s Russia Policy in Light of the Ukraine Conflict: Interdependence Theory and Ostpolitik

Access the Winter 2022 issue of Orbis here. Abstract Germany’s recent Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy) has become a major topic in Western discussions about how to deal best with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. This essay proceeds from Interdependence Theory to argue...

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The Balkans and Euro-Atlantic Energy Security

Access the Winter 2022 issue of Orbis here. Abstract Europe’s current energy crisis underscores its failure to deal adequately with the problems posed by increasing dependence one Russian gas. Particularly in the Balkans Russia’s oligopolistic position if not monopoly in some...

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Turkey’s Response to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

  Introduction  On October 26, 2021, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense released video of a TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) striking a separatist D-30 howitzer in Russian-occupied Donbas. The strike was Ukraine’s first confirmed use of the now ubiquitous...

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Strategic Connectivity in the Black Sea: A Focus on Georgia

  Executive Summary This report argues that the government of Georgia needs to reshuffle its priorities in advancing its strategic connectivity in three major areas: democratic statecraft, economic modernization, and geopolitical identity. By prioritizing these three areas, Georgia can...

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Tensions Between Russia and Ukraine: How Likely is Another War?

  As the war in Ukraine heads into its eighth year, many fear that Moscow may be preparing a large-scale military escalation. Over the past few weeks, American, European, and NATO allies, as well as Ukrainian officials, have warned...

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