Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hardly changed the foreign-policy mindset in Berlin. Only a robust, long-term containment strategy can help the West curb Russia’s expansionist ambitions. Has Russia’s war against Ukraine fundamentally changed the thinking of policymakers in Berlin? Have they really understood that in the future European security must …

Russia’s ultra-patriots are not a cohesive force. They are a motley collection of amateur groups that coalesce around leaders who are ambitious, jealous, and incapable of working with each other.The late mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was until recently considered a leading Russian politician—with some even believing he could be a …

In the absence of foreign investors, lucrative assets in Russia can be given for safekeeping to anyone who is “one of us.” Those people will owe their wealth to Putin personally, making them directly dependent on the Kremlin to preserve that wealth.Russia’s elites are unhappy about many things, not least …