On March 19th, Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigned after having spent almost 30 years as the country’s leader. Under the Soviet rule, he first served as the chairman of the…
“Blatant disrespect” for Russia’s government can now land you in jail, under a new law the country’s legislature has passed. Worried that Russians are increasingly inclined to criticize the state or…
At the end of 2013,Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, postponed signing an association agreement with theEuropean Union, choosing instead to pursue closer ties withRussia. Protesters began…
Russia’s 2014 annexation ofCrimea, its war in easternUkraine, its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and other aggressive acts againstthe United Statesand its allies demand a…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 marked a sharp break with the past: the post–Cold War interlude, a time when peace and democracy spread across the globe, was over, and a new, more aggressive era…
Recent events in theBlack Seahave thrust Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war inUkraine back into the international headlines, but for ordinary Ukrainians, it never went away. Over the past four…
Russian and Chinese actions are converging to challenge the U.S.-led global order. Last month, China joined Russia in conducting the latter’s largest military exercises since the Cold War. As the war…
Russia has made itself the arbiter of events in Syria. Its military intervention and use of intensive bombing allowed it to change the balance of forces on the ground and save the Assad regime. But…
On August 8, the Trump administration announced new sanctions on Russia in response to its use of the nerve agent Novichok to poison Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer,…
Ten years ago, in August 2008, Russian troops invaded Georgia. At the time, the event was more of a Georgian tragedy than a major international incident. Its significance was overshadowed by the…
Beijing would like the week to mark a historic turning point in which a unipolar world finally gave way to multipolarity. To others, it was just tub-thumping bravura. In reality, it was a bit of both.
The country now sits at an energy crossroads: will its recovery be anchored in oil and gas, or will it seize the chance to lean into renewables and build something more resilient?
After Israel dealt Iran and its regional axis a string of crippling blows last year, Lebanon now finds itself better-positioned to reclaim its eroded state sovereignty. Will it grab the chance?
Recent books from Yemen, Egypt, and Syria take a new look at the 10th-century philosopher's famed letter 'The Epistle of Forgiveness', which is said to have inspired Dante's 'Divine Comedy'
An earthquake in Afghanistan earlier this week levelled entire villages and left people trapped under rubble for days, but in the shadow of the Hindu Kush, saviours were thin on the ground