Russia
Russia's Asian Aggressions
Today, Tehran, Pyongyang and Beijing are providing critical support for the Kremlin’s latest war of expansion, while Russia claims its foreign policy rests on a history of opposition to imperialism — but under the tsars, Iran, China and Korea themselves fell prey to its ambitions.
Recast on the World Stage
With Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow, the success of the blockbuster film “Anora,” Russian athletes breaking records and even a viral pop hit from remote Bashkortostan, the cultural isolation surrounding Russia has eased. The mood in Moscow is unmistakably triumphant, and Russians seem to be saying, “We’re back.”
The Russian Nationalists Pushing for Ukraine’s Destruction
Nationalist factions have been a key part of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine since 2014, but are often at odds with the state. Now they fear the Kremlin could be duped by the West into a negotiated settlement that falls short of their goal: dismantling Ukraine as a sovereign state.
The Story Behind a Russian Hacker’s Arrest in the US
Cybercrime has long been a useful foreign policy tool for the Russian state. But observers now wonder if shifting geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s rapprochement with the Kremlin, will impact such activities, for better or worse.
The University That Shaped Russia’s Intervention in Syria
For decades, an elite university in St. Petersburg sustained Russia’s expertise on the Middle East and its influence abroad. Yet cracks in Russia’s supposed mastery of the region started to show around the turn of the millennium.
With Assad in Moscow, Putin Scrambles To Save Face — and His Syrian Bases
Moscow finds itself in an awkward position, striving to both curtail reputational damage and make inroads with the Syrian rebels, all with the ousted Assads now living under its roof.
Four New Books Attempt To Reckon With Russia’s Recent Past
A growing number of nonfiction books published since the start of the war in Ukraine by journalists, diplomats and other experts seek to document and understand Russia’s descent into full-blown authoritarianism, and how it reached the point where it could launch such a murderous war on its neighbor.