A fifth term secured in power. Another six years claimed as the country’s head of state. On track to becoming the Kremlin’s longest serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Welcome to the world of Mr. Vladimir Putin. Last month, Russia held its eighth presidential election, although it was predetermined who would emerge victorious. Yet, Read More…
There is an apocryphal quotation commonly attributed to Vladimir Lenin, that, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This apposite reflection on the uneven velocity of historical change could have been written of the new, narrow epoch the Atlantic Community finds itself in at the current moment. Only five Read More…
A common trope in Russia’s discourse about NATO is the charge that the organization has not dealt with Moscow in good faith. Many Russians, of which Putin is a particularly vocal example, allege that Western officials assured their Soviet counterparts during the Two Plus Four negotiations (West Germany and East Germany plus the US, USSR, France, and the UK) on German reunification in Read More…
In this article, Jordan McEwen discusses the European Union’s improved cooperation and how this may have been triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Contrary to those who maintain that Europe’s unity over Ukraine is fading, she argues that member states shared concern for their security may be allowing for better cooperation than ever before.
For over fifty years, Germany hoped that a conciliatory approach predicated on close economic ties, and diplomatic and cultural rapproachement in its Russia policy – commonly known as Ostpolitik – would warm Russia to the West. Two Russian invasions of Ukraine and many sanctions later, it has become abundantly clear that Berlin’s orthodox policy towards Moscow has Read More…
In this article Griffin Cornwall analyzes the establishment of Russia’s information warfare policies and how they have impacted planning and messaging surrounding the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In this article Griffin Cornwall examines the impact of the Belarusian Government’s dramatic arrests of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, the increased sanctions pressure from the West this action has brought, and the potential risks to Belarus’ national sovereignty brought by President Lukashenko’s retrenchment of his relationship to his longstanding ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin
In this article, Maria Zelenova examines how Russian independent journalists have been able to adapt under harsh censorship laws, creating a new ecosystem for reporting on important stories.
Although many strongman leaders are portrayed as authoritarian, power hungry, and egotistic control freaks, Junior Research Fellow Ramesh Balakrishnan discusses how there is a world of difference between those leaders at the head of democracies versus those who are unelected and rule over dictatorships.
Aidan Simardone argues Western states should demand Russia respect federalism.