Russians

September 2, 2026 | Clifford D. May |

Stalled in Ukraine, Putin may try to break NATO

Dwight Eisenhower is said to have counseled that if a problem can’t be solved, you should enlarge it.  Is Vladimir Putin now applying that maxim perversely? I’ll bet you a ruble the CIA...

August 19, 2026 | John Hardie |

Russia helps Iran sharpen its sword

Russia is shipping explosives and other military goods to help Iran replenish arsenals depleted in fighting with the United States and Israel, according to an August 17 report by NBC News. If accurate,...

August 5, 2026 | Ivana Stradner, Camille Roussel

Russia Is Back to Banning Books

Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” and Stephen King’s “It.” These are just a few victims of book purges happening all over Russia. Every...

July 17, 2026 | John Hardie |

Russia’s ‘Banderol’ low-cost cruise missile officially breaks cover

Moscow officially acknowledged its new S8000 Banderol air-launched cruise missile for the first time in a state media report published this week. This comes as the missile, designed as a low-cost option...

July 14, 2026 | Hussain Abdul-Hussain |

Erdogan Dreams of Annexing Arab Countries, Reviving the Turkish Empire

The prospect of a revived Turkish empire poses a new threat to Arab sovereignty.

July 2, 2026 | Keti Korkiya, Ivana Stradner

Serbia and Georgia aren’t our friends — They’re authoritarian regimes courting Trump

When autocrats seek legitimacy, they often travel in pairs. Such was the case when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Tbilisi in June. While this was the first visit by a Serbian...

June 29, 2026 | Angela Howard |

Russian Gasoline Shortages Compound Economic Struggles

Russia is running short on gas. On June 24, Reuters reported that Russia petitioned Kazakhstan to provide 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline to alleviate domestic shortages. Despite its status as...

June 4, 2026 | Keti Korkiya |

Why Russia Is Trying to Influence Armenia’s Elections

Moscow feels threatened by Armenia’s foreign policy pivot toward Europe and the United States.

May 26, 2026 | Eric S. Edelman, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ray Takeyh

Iran’s New ‘Nuclear’ Weapon

What happens if the U.S. declines to fight for the Strait of Hormuz.

May 26, 2026 | RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, John Hardie

Ukraine now has the ‘cards,’ the US must force Putin to make concessions

Ukraine is proving it holds more “cards” than some assumed, thwarting Russia’s battlefield advances while pounding its infrastructure. Vladimir Putin is visibly under stress to end the war. Yet...

May 2, 2026 | Ivana Stradner, Dorian McElrone

Russia and Iran Build Sovereign, State-Controlled Internets

Iranians are increasingly leaving their country to escape the regime’s internet shutdown. At the same time, in Russia, the Kremlin’s tightening grip on online life is fueling growing...

April 26, 2026 | Caleb Weiss |

JNIM and allied rebels surge across Mali, take several cities, pressure capital

Beginning on Saturday, Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), and its allies in the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a collection of Tuareg and Arab rebel groups, fully or partially...

April 24, 2026 | John Hardie |

Russian Shahed drone maker recruiting for new unmanned systems brigade

An organization affiliated with Russia’s main producer of Shahed-type drones has launched a recruitment drive for a new unmanned systems brigade, promising young men the chance to earn risk-free cash...

April 23, 2026 | RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Joe Dougherty

Readout of meetings with senior defense officials in Taiwan, Japan

April 20, 2026 | Ivana Stradner, Max Lesser

How America can fight back against enemy propaganda

As Iran’s viral Lego videos, which spread anti-Western narratives through Lego-style animations and rap tracks, reach global audiences, the State Department’s call for diplomats to fight against...

April 20, 2026 | Josh Birenbaum |

The dangerous national security shell company game

A national security crisis is unfolding before our eyes and we can’t even see it. A failure by the federal government to enforce the law is allowing hidden Chinese companies to use opacity loopholes and...

April 8, 2026 | Clifford D. May |

Know thine enemy

The “great, proud people of Iran” are not among them

April 8, 2026 | Ivana Stradner |

What the Kremlin fears more than Ukrainian drones

Major banks across Russia on Friday reported major service breakdowns. Their apps crashed, ATMs stopped working, and other capabilities collapsed. The outages caused major complications in everyday...

March 11, 2026 | Clifford D. May |

Tucker Carlson ‘has lost his way’

President Trump now sees that clearly

March 5, 2026 | John Hardie |

Ukraine will help combat Iranian drones in Middle East, Zelenskyy says

Years of Russian bombardment with Iranian drones have provided Ukraine with unparalleled experience in finding cost-effective ways to counter these weapons. Now, that hard-won expertise may be about to...