This Emerging Insights paper analyses Moscow’s ambitions for its ‘pivot to the East’, assesses its progress and evaluates the impact of the Indo-Pacific concept on Russian strategy. Russia’s ‘turn to the East’ (povorot na vostok) has been underway for around a decade. Before 2014, the ‘Pivot’ was principally concerned with …

Russia’s cautious accommodation of the Taliban shows it will likely combine diplomacy with deterrence in the coming months. Since Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul on 15 August, Russia has cautiously accommodated the Taliban’s seizure of power. Diplomats, such as Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov and President Vladimir Putin’s …

With Russia increasing its efforts to divert the transit of natural gas via the new TurkStream corridor, the Black Sea’s littoral states must take coordinated action to reduce energy supply risks. Ukraine’s Crimea Platform, an international platform launched last month to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the country’s independence, …