Adam Michnik, a senior Polish dissident and editor of Warsaw’s Gazeta Wyborcza, says he is “certain” that the war in Ukraine will become for Vladimir Putin precisely what the war in Afghanistan was for Leonid Brezhnev,” a trap from which there is no easy or obvious way out. Putin has …

The change in history has been triggered by the Ukraine war, in the heart of Europe and it has given rise to a new order that is going to affect the international arena for decades. In other words, with Washington and Moscow, as the world’s greatest military powers, going head-to-head …

Everyone in Europe is tense watching the elections in France. Though Emmanuel Macron is taking the lead, a Marine Le Pen win is more likely than in the last elections. A Le Pen victory would be catastrophic for the EU and even endanger its existence. Le Pen inherited her father’s …

Russian Threat in the Baltic Sea (FPRI) — The current strategic focus of the United States centers around how to confront the challenges presented by this new era of Great Power competition. As the United States shifts its focus on China and pivots to the Pacific, it must find a …

On March 15, 2022, Turkish journalist Aytuğ Özçolak published an article titled “Russian Oligarchs In Turkey: Initiatives, Relations, And What They Own.”[1] Özçolak reviews the assets and investments in Turkey of Russian oligarchs including: Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Vladimir Lisin, Vladimir Potanin, Alexy Mordashov, and Mikhail Fridman. While Western media …

In an interview with Rosbalt media’s Anna Semenets, economist Professor Natalia Zubarevich of the Moscow State University’s Department of the Social and Economic Geography of Russia, outlines the effect of continuing sanctions. The sanctions full effect will not be perceived at once, as some will have immediate effect, while others …

Earlier this month, the lead U.N. representative for Yemen announced a two-month cease-fire, the first major breakthrough since 2015 in the conflict between the Houthi rebels and Iran on the one side and the Yemeni government and its Gulf backers on the other. The news was a ray of hope …

Dubai’s Expo 2020, the international fair hosted in the United Arab Emirates, closed last month to rave reviews. The mega event, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic but retained its official name for marketing and branding purposes, ran from October 2021 to March 2022. In that time, it …

Use the Kremlin’s Seized Assets to Pay for Reconstruction The world’s attention has understandably been focused on the military side of the war in Ukraine. But in the next stage, the political-economic strategy may be decisive. As Tacitus once wrote of the Roman strategy in Britain, “they make a desolation …

Viktor Orban and the Myth of the Self-Destructing Strongman The timing could not have been more striking. On April 3, nearly six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine had apparently reinvigorated and reunified the liberal democratic West, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was easily reelected to his …