Recent Posts

Prigozhin goes into exile but left behind a can of worms

On Monday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation for the second time with the intention to bring the curtain down on the coup attempt by Wagner “founder” Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 23-24. It was quintessentially a self-congratulatory speech — well-deserved, perhaps. The speech had four principal elements. First, …

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He Stopped Prigozhin’s Mutiny: What’s Next for Belarus’s Chief Negotiator Lukashenko?

By solving a Russian domestic crisis, the Belarusian leader has effectively joined the ranks of Russian grandees vying for Putin’s favor by eliminating irritating problems that could distract the president from his high-stakes geopolitical machinations. The mutiny led by the Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on the weekend has given …

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Overcoming EU Accession Challenges in Eastern Europe: Avoiding Purgatory

The EU’s decision to grant Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine membership perspective signals a more strategic approach to enlargement. But an overhaul of the process is needed to enable staged accession and prevent a stalemate. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has placed the EU’s policy toward its eastern neighbors firmly in the …

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