Eurasia

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...

Read more »

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...

Read more »

Controlling the Narrative: A Roadmap to Russia’s 2024 Presidential Election

Almost ten years into Russia’s war against Ukraine and almost two years into the 2022 full-scale invasion, most domestic political and economic actors seem to have accepted the emergence of a new normal. Timelines and perceived limits of economic...

Read more »

Seoul Searching: Lessons from South Korea’s Experience with Sanctions against Russia

  Introduction Russia and the West have found themselves enmeshed in an expansive economic war as a result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. While the conflict on...

Read more »

Stalemate Is Not Checkmate in Ukraine

“Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held.” – General Alexander Vandegrift, US Marine Corps Medal of Honor winner at...

Read more »

Synchronized: The Impact of the War on Ukraine’s Energy Landscape

This report takes a three-step approach to analyzing the consequences of the war on the Ukrainian energy landscape and its international ramifications....

Read more »

Russian Military Drones: Past, Present, and Future of the UAV Industry

  Introduction Since 2009, Russia has invested significant effort into developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, for military purposes. They have used drones for reconnaissance, targeting, electronic warfare, and direct strikes. Some of these UAVs have been used...

Read more »

Estonia Catches Taiwan Fever: What Will the Side Effects Be?

In early November 2023, Estonia announced a decision to allow Taiwan to open an unofficial, non-diplomatic economic and cultural representative office in Tallinn. The opening of an office does not mean that Tallinn and Taipei are establishing official diplomatic...

Read more »

The Dragon and the Bear in Africa: Stress-Testing Chinese-Russian Relations

  Introduction This report is based on a chapter of my forthcoming book on the relationship between China and Russia. For the US, this is arguably the most important bilateral relationship in the world today. A robust, resilient partnership...

Read more »

“For as Long as it Takes”: Putting US Aid to Ukraine into Perspective

Over the past year, Biden administration officials from the president down have repeatedly insisted that the United States will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion “for as long as it takes.” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reportedly told his...

Read more »