Eurasia

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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The Baltic Defense Line

The three Baltic states jointly announced on Jan. 19, 2024, their intention to build a defensive line along their borders with Russia and Belarus. Initial details are scarce. The defensive line will not include coastal defenses — Baltic coasts...

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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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A “Frozen Conflict” Boils Over: Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 and Future Implications

Executive Summary This report has two objectives: first, to present an account of the conflict with an emphasis on analytically useful categories and context up to the present, and second, to discuss local, regional, and global consequences of the...

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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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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...

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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...

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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...

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