Russia

Donald Trump has upended not only the sanctions regime, but also the framework of diplomacy involving North Korea. A scramble is bound to ensue for leverage in shaping the geopolitics of Northeast Asia and for asserting national identities in...

Five years into a geopolitically convoluted and logistically complex civil war in Syria, there appears to be no end in sight. Not only are numerous regional groups engaged in this conflict, but also the issue is further complicated by...

Soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, Moscow sought to reassert its influence in Europe with calls for a “Slavic union” between Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. A few countries were initially receptive. But in the...

Donald Trump entered the Oval Office promising to “drain the swamp” in Washington, riding a wave of anti-elite and anti-expert sentiment that helped him build a coalition including both traditional Republican voters and a number of disaffected (mostly white)...

The ties between Russia and Israel have evolved as both states developed their individual post-Cold War strategic views and policies. The steady progress that has been made since the restoration of diplomatic relations in 1991—and particularly since Vladimir Putin assumed office in...

Would you rather be neighbors with ISIS or the Assad regime? These are the type of questions Americans aren’t used to asking themselves, but which our partners in the Middle East deal with routinely. In early April 2018, I...

This Philadelphia Paper provides a theoretical and applied introduction to Competitive Shaping, an umbrella term for a variety of discrete means of contesting the state and the system surrounding it, contesting hearts and minds, and various aspects of how...

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, writes Elena Chebankova, "Russia's 'natural' mission was seen in embracing liberal democratic values and joining the 'normal' (western) league of states with its institutions serving as a benchmark of...

When Americans discuss Russia’s economy, words such as corruption, kleptocracy, and petrostate dominate the conversation. These buzzwords miss the point. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Russia knows that the country is badly governed. But the interesting question...

For centuries, American policymakers have likened Russia to a large, clumsy bear—a state whose power relies not on skill and appeal, but on brute force and the ability to intimidate. The unsuccessful Soviet invasion in Afghanistan seemed to confirm...