Eurasia

Following Prigozhin’s Aborted Mutiny, What Will Happen to the Wagner Group?

The future of the Wagner Group is in doubt. Less than a week after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his march on Moscow on June 23, which was then aborted mid-coup, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Wagner fighters who...

Read more »

Lithuania’s Bet on Taiwan and What It Means for Europe

Despite a concerted effort from the People’s Republic of China to teach Lithuania a strong economic lesson for opening an unofficial diplomatic representative office in Taipei (and allowing Taiwan to do the same in Vilnius), it appears that Beijing...

Read more »

The Baltic Predicament in the Shadow of Russia’s War in Ukraine

Abstract Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has once again reinvigorated the debate about the likelihood of conflict spreading into NATO’s frontline states, namely the Baltic republics. This article argues that somewhat paradoxically, the Baltics currently find themselves in both the...

Read more »

How Long Do the Baltic States Have? Planning Horizons for Baltic Defense

Throughout Russia’s current, renewed invasion of Ukraine, the three Baltic states have been continually working to improve their defense, even as they send military aid to Ukraine (the scale of which—compared to the Baltics’ own defense budgets—is staggering). The...

Read more »

New Canal Threatens the Peace Between the Taliban and Central Asia

When the Taliban entered Kabul in mid-August 2021, the Central Asian governments, with the exception of the Tajik government, simply continued, to the extent possible, business as usual with Afghanistan. Uzbekistan temporarily closed its border crossings with Afghanistan, mainly...

Read more »

Russia’s War in Ukraine: Critical Vulnerabilities to Russia’s Military Operations and Systems

  Key Takeaways Some of the critical vulnerabilities to Russia’s military operations and systems—revealed during the war in Ukraine—are due to its military culture and poor strategic choices at the beginning of the war including overly ambitious strategic aims....

Read more »

In the Darkness: Lukashenka Digs In

Since Belarus’ authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka suppressed the protests that followed his certain rigging of elections in August 2020, Belarus has largely been written off as an extension of neighboring Russia. Its internal politics have slipped off the international...

Read more »

Bad Company: Wagner Group and Prigozhin at Crossroads in Ukraine

“The children of elites…allow themselves to lead a public, fat, carefree life while the children of others arrive back shredded to pieces in zinc coffins,” snarled Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in one of his most recent videos posted...

Read more »

Latvia’s Military Industry Marks its First Decade

The Federation of Security and Defense Industries of Latvia recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. Although the military industry in Latvia predates the federation, the industry has grown markedly in the last decade. The military industry in Latvia has developed...

Read more »

Stress-Testing Chinese-Russian Relations

The statements could not have been more different. As Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his visit to Russia in March, the two governments released a joint statement that described their relations as having reached “their highest level in...

Read more »