Eurasia

In my view it is best to understand the Ukraine Crisis as a two-level war with regional and global implications. The surprising strength of Ukrainian resistance has dramatized the magnitude of Moscow’s miscalculation in having anticipating quickly subduing resisting to its aggression and intended occupation. Russia has already been defeated …

Outreach to pro-democracy forces appears over as Beijing expects the war in Ukraine to curb Russian backing for the generals. After a year of tentative ties with Myanmar’s democratic opposition, China this month dropped all pretension of hedging its bets and ramped up support for the military regime. Beijing framed …

The country’s political crisis may have abated, but the road ahead is littered with challenges for the next government. After a month of political crisis in Islamabad, Pakistan’s united opposition parties successfully removed Prime Minister Imran Khan in a vote of no confidence on April 10 and then on April …

Its leaders clearly believe China’s contradictory stance offers it the best chance of protecting Chinese interests and finding opportunity in this crisis. Mao Zedong was fond of quoting a line from a Han Dynasty historian: “Things that oppose each other also complement each other.” Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China …

The bottom line On March 25, Russia was forced to announce a major shift in strategy due to unsustainable losses in northern Ukraine. Since then, it has removed many of its forces from the area—including all those surrounding Kyiv—to Belarus and Russia to refit and reequip. We assess that Russian …

In seven weeks of fighting in Ukraine, Russia has lost an estimated three dozen unmanned aircraft, according to military analysts. Dutch warfare research group Oryx reported that Russia is now visually confirmed to have lost 30 unmanned aerial vehicles since it launched its unprovoked onslaught in Ukraine on February 24. …

The Ahrar Jabal al-Arab Gathering has pledged to stand with the people of the Suweida governorate, in southern Syria, to reach a just and democratic Syrian nation, which is founded on the principle of separation of powers — without partisan, ethnic, or sectarian discrimination. In a statement, the gathering said …

Frontlines might not be moving in Syria, but that does not mean that the fighting is over. Various factions and foreign states involved in the 11 years old conflict are still resorting to targeted attacks or assassinations, and the Syrian regime and its allies are paying a heavy price. On …

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland, two long-standing militarily non-aligned countries, are now likely to join NATO. Public opinion in both countries had been mostly against joining the Western military alliance, but the war in Ukraine has dramatically changed attitudes. Leaders of both countries have said …

Stalin secured what is now Kaliningrad so that Moscow would have an unsinkable aircraft carrier on the Baltic Sea. Then, after the end of the Cold War, the non-contiguous region of the Russian Federation was transformed into a place for economic exchange among Russia and its neighbors with security issues …