Executive Summary Ukrainian forces have defeated the 2026 Russian campaign to seize Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces intended to conduct a deep encirclement of the entire Fortress Belt from the Lyman direction in the north and the Dobropillya direction in the southwest, linking up near Barvinkove, Kharkiv Oblast. This wide encirclement …

From David Ben-Gurion—the architect of a state whose foundations remain a subject of debate—to Benjamin Netanyahu, a master of maintaining constant tension, the “periphery doctrine” has remained a cornerstone of Israeli foreign policy. Its essence lies in forging alliances with states that surround hostile neighbors. Israeli authorities operate on the …

Clouds gathered again over Polish-Ukrainian relations in the spring and summer of 2026. After a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit was named after the “heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Armyi,” Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, of the Order of the White Eagle. In response, Ukrainian politicians, …