Recent Posts

Why Isn’t Russia Talking About Great Power Competition?

The lack of serious analysis of great power competition within Russia is due in large part to the baggage that Russian officials bring to any discussion of the country’s place in the post–Cold War world. All too often, debate in both policy and analytical circles is guided by long-standing grievances, …

Read More »

Russia in the Mediterranean: Here to Stay

Russia’s strategy in the Mediterranean is an integral part of its strategy for the wider European theater, which has long been the principal arena of its foreign policy triumphs and setbacks. Europe’s dominant position on Russia’s foreign policy agenda is a product of its strategic culture, which is in turn …

Read More »

Brussels Faces Off With ‘Europe’s Last Dictator’

For decades, the president of Belarus, known as “Europe’s last dictator,” has been a thorn in the side of the continent’s democracies. But the threat Alexander Lukashenko poses to European security suddenly grew more serious Sunday, when his security forces—with the help of a transparently false cover story and an …

Read More »

Eritrea Goes From Pariah State to Regional Powerbroker

In early May, when Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki visited Sudan, the official objective of the trip was to strengthen bilateral ties within a regional framework. The visit nevertheless raised eyebrows. It came on the heels of Eritrea’s military participation in Ethiopia’s civil war in Tigray region, and also at a …

Read More »

Syria’s Assad, Hamas weigh rapprochement

The Hamas movement seems divided as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted a delegation of Palestinian factions leaders and praised all resistance factions, after years of estrangement with Hamas. In the midst of the Israeli bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted in Damascus on May 20 …

Read More »

Syrian Arab tribes put Kurdish administration on notice

Syrian tribal leaders based in Turkey are calling out Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces over the killing of young tribesmen at the hands of the SDF in demonstrations against the increase of fuel prices. Major Arab tribes in northeastern Syria recently issued an ultimatum for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following …

Read More »