In 2024, several major developments unfolded in the Russian war on Ukraine, including Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which began in August. The Ukrainian Armed Forces intensified drone attacks on Russia’s military and energy infrastructure, targeting more than 30 oil refineries. Additionally, Ukraine has rapidly transformed from receiving military aid to becoming a successful Read More…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been marked by limited battlefield success, with no indication of a divisive victory for either party or a peace settlement. Russia has had to cope with an almost systematic increase in sanctions in scope and scale in order to conduct its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions aim to hobble Russia’s Read More…
As Russia experiences growing isolation since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to deepen its relationship with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). This relationship, which had previously collapsed with the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, has witnessed a prominent resurgence. The new relationship is marked by secrecy and mutual assistance aimed at Read More…
Significant attention has been drawn to the adaptability of Russia’s defence industry and how it has diversified its supply chains, circumvented sanctions, and bolstered its ability to conduct its war of aggression on Ukraine. While scrutiny has been directed towards adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, and intermediaries (e.g., China), including Western allies and Read More…
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 response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canada has rolled out a slew of measures to defend NATO’s eastern flank. This article summarizes and critically analyzes these recent trends in Canadian defence and foreign policy.
This week, we challenged the NATO Association of Canada’s Editors for their take on a thorny and challenging topic, namely: Are sanctions an effective means of curbing illegal behaviour by ‘rogue state’? Ditch the Logic Arjun Singh At its root, the question is empirical. Sanctions are effective only if, in cases where used, a desired Read More…
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
Despite NATO’s objections, as Germany persists in cooperation with Russia, Arjun Singh deconstructs the German strategic calculus on Nord Stream 2 and impact of Holocaust history.
In this article Joseph Bouchard examines the issues of corruption in Russia’s energy sector exposed by Alexei Navalny, how those issues impact Russia’s influence in the global energy sector, and how resolving them could impact Russia’s future and its relations with the West.