Eurasia

Antagonizing the Neighborhood: Putin’s Frozen Conflicts and the Conflict in Ukraine

Good afternoon, Chairman Keating, Ranking Member Kinzinger, and distinguished members of the Committee. In recent years, international attention has focused on Russia’s efforts to keep its neighboring country, Ukraine, within its sphere of influence. Today, at this important hearing, I will speak about the situation in another country affected by …

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Iraq calls in US, British envoys after multiple airstrikes on Hashd Sha'abi positions

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has summoned the US and British ambassadors to Baghdad over a string of airstrikes carried out by the United States against multiple locations of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi.

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To Help Stem Coronavirus, Lift Sanctions on Iran

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is far from the first proof of how intertwined we are as a global community. The climate crisis and the refugee crisis have long been glaring examples that the wars or CO2 emissions on one continent risk the lives and well-being of people on another continent. …

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Middle East disinformation: 2020 prospects & solutions

Middle East Disinformation: 2020 Prospects & Solutions Social media has transformed the information landscape in the Middle East over the past decade. The 2009 Green Revolution and the 2011 Arab Spring demonstrated the enormous power of platforms like Twitter and Facebook for political organizing.

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Russia’s Middle East: You probe with bayonets. If you find mush, you proceed …

There was a firefight During the winter of 2019, teams of U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Marines were positioned alongside their allied militia unit, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), by an oil field near Deir Ezzor, Syria. What looked like a Russian-led militia force, including a number of armored …

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Geopolitics and propaganda: Lessons from the Black Sea

“I wish Georgia had the geographic location of Moldova” a Georgian political leader told me and a group of experts in Washington recently. Georgia and Moldova have much in common, from their geography and history to their shared status as EU Eastern Partnership countries on a track to internal reform …

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