Eurasia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his political career on risks and gambles, which taken together have helped him solidify his position as one of the most feared strongmen in international society. Drawing from his personal experience in the intelligence apparatus, he predicted the slow and minimalistic global response to …

The Western sanctions imposed on Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine include a ban on overland cargo transit through Russian territory. This situation has highlighted new promising prospects for Georgia as a transit country (see EDM, April 19, April 20, June 9). Indeed, Georgia has become one of the …

For the first time in the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin must contend with the serious prospect of losing it. Early setbacks around Kyiv and Chernigov had been balanced by Russian gains in the south and the east; they could be justified as tactical retreats and thus as …

In response to Russia severely restricting or cutting off gas supplies, EU governments will take dramatic actions over the coming months. Germany recently announced it would keep two of the nuclear plants it was shuttering as backups, just in case. EU leaders will then go back to the voters and …

In Vienna, China’s permanent mission to the United Nations has been rather exercised of late. Members of the mission have been particularly irate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Rafael Grossi, who addressed the IAEA’s Board of Governors on September 12. Grossi was building on a …

Over the last ten days, Ukrainians have achieved astonishing gains over the Russian army. For six months, the Kharkiv region, in Ukraine’s east, has suffered through battle and Russian occupation. Now, Ukrainians are driving retreating Russian units as far as the pre-war border. The operational situation is fluid and dynamic …

What we’ve been able to provide Ukraine that has been most telling hasn’t been diplomatic or moral support, but a system that can put a rocket on a target 50 miles away.

Right-wing nationalists are spreading a dangerous “stab-in-the-back” myth to explain Russia’s crushing defeats. A new Russian protest movement is coalescing, but it’s neither pro-democracy nor anti-war. Instead, it’s the most extreme of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s supporters, who have grown increasingly furious at the unfolding military disaster for Russia in …

Russian president Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Russia would stop all energy exports to the West if Europe goes against its standing contracts and caps prices of Russian exports due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. If Europe decides to go against the contracts, Russia “won’t supply gas, oil, coal, …

The retreat of Russia’s forces from the Kharkiv district marks the most significant defeat for Russia since the start of war in Ukraine. The conflict however, is far from over argues Tchantouridze, Putin will now seek to decimate Ukraine’s economic and military infrastructure in a war of attrition, knowing that …