On 27 February 2014, Russia invaded the strategic Black Sea peninsula and later annexed it in March. Since then, it has become the foundation of Putin's current and future ambitions.
Twin fears of an inward-looking Donald Trump and a westward-looking Vladimir Putin have left officials in Europe's treasuries urgently revising their budgets to make room for more defence spending.
On 24 February 2022, Moscow invaded its neighbour to the west. For much of Europe, Ukraine is quite literally a call to arms to fight Russian expansionism
Despite sanctions, a brain drain, investor withdrawal, inflation, high interest rates, falling oil prices and reducing reserves, Vladimir Putin thinks Russia's economy is A-grade. Is it?
No stranger to a world in flux, the West's alliance has grown since the Cold War. It has fresh challenges from an old foe and a new global power to address.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have several moves left to alter the war's outcome. The ability to do so largely depends on the commitment of resources and the will to fight.
The deep divisions within British politics in 2024 suggest it will add to the instability of the Western alliance as it grapples with major challenges from mass migration to the Ukraine war.
The Ukraine war has shrunk Russia's ability to export weapons, but Western sanctions and Moscow's damaged global image have also made importers more reluctant to buy Russian arms.
As support for Israel weakens across the US political spectrum, once-taboo questions about military aid, lobbying influence, and US backing are moving into the mainstream
Algeria is one of Africa's largest producers of hydrocarbons, and its proximity to customers in Europe makes it of growing interest as importers fret over a prolonged supply crisis from countries
Through extravagant processions led by palace women, the Mamluk state projected a message of power and prestige at home and abroad, turning the Hajj obligation into a soft-power tool