The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending in August 2021, created favorable conditions for Russia to reassert itself as a regional hegemon in broader Central Asia. Historically, as great powers retrench from a territory, the resulting void can be filled either by rival powers or by friendly successor states responsive to …

CTP-ISW continues to assess that Iran and its Axis of Resistance will likely conduct a coordinated strike targeting Israel in retaliation for the death of former Hamas Political Bureau head Ismail Haniyeh on July 31. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has continued to communicate that Iran will retaliate “forcefully” against …

Russia declared what it described as a “federal-level” emergency on August 9 in the Kursk region, the site of a four-day incursion by Ukrainian forces. The announcement came hours after a Ukrainian military strike on an airfield there. In response to the incursion, the Russian Defense Ministry said on August …