America is in decline. Eclipsed by China’s rise, it is shifting attention from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific. That is one refrain in the analysis of three seemingly paradigm-challenging developments in the past month: a Chinese-mediated restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the kingdom’s association with …

In 2019, I warned: “The Russian Federation is pursuing an active and wide-ranging strategy to reassert and strengthen its dominant position in the greater Black Sea region, which the Kremlin believes is critical for the restoration of Russia’s great power status. Consolidation of the Russian position in this region will …

Most commentaries on Finland’s accession to the Western alliance have focused on the fact that this development had doubled the land border between NATO and the Russian Federation. But Sergey Ishchenko says, an even more important consequence may be on the Baltic Sea and for Russia’s Baltic Fleet. With the …