Vladimir Putin

Farewell Fidelismo?  

Trump has a chance to liberate the Cuban people – and others

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...

Putin-Xi Summit Fails To Land Major Breakthroughs

This spring is summit season in Beijing.  Russian leader Vladmir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met for a two-day summit on May 20 to 21 and signed 40 limited agreements covering...

Why the EU Should Sanction Russia’s Patriarch

The Russian Orthodox Church’s sanctification of Russia’s war on Ukraine has met with little retort from Europe.

Distrust and verify  

The Beijing summit was pageantry; Xi’s ambitions are not

Canceled Poland Deployment Further Weakens American Deterrence in Europe

In a move that will likely send shockwaves across Europe, the Pentagon reportedly halted the scheduled deployment of a roughly 4,000-strong U.S. Army armored brigade to Poland on Wednesday. The news...

An Anniversary That Should Serve as Warning for Russia’s Allies

May 14 occupies a symbolic place in Russia’s military imagination. It marks the anniversary of the creation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 and, nearly half a century later, the founding of the Collective...

EU Sanctions Individuals and Entities Complicit in Russian Abduction of Ukrainian Children

Latest Developments Asset Freezes and Travel Bans Imposed: The European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 16 individuals and seven centers in Russia assessed to be complicit in the “unlawful...

Putin’s latest Victory Day parade shows a desperate, hollow regime

For all the Russian president’s cultivated image as a geopolitical chess master, the board is starting to look empty

Russian security assistance is creating problems on the Korean Peninsula

In a unique episode of father-daughter bonding, Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, observed a ballistic missile test on April 19 in which North Korea launched five missiles with...

A Gameplan for American Economic Security:

Supercharging U.S. Statecraft, from an Economic Pentagon to the Near-Global Economy

America Should Rediscover the Soft Power Potential of Its Music

What made jazz – the quintessential American music – dangerous was not the sound, but the idea behind it: improvisation, spontaneity, individual voice.

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...

Aiding the abduction of Ukrainian children must come with consequences

“They do not like the light of day. They’re like vampires,” former U.S. War Crimes Ambassador David Crane said about private corporations and their leaders that facilitate war...

Deny the Truth at All Costs: Moscow’s Perennial Playbook

Remembering how Moscow dealt with the catastrophe in Chornobyl 40 years ago reveals the cornerstone of the Kremlin’s modus operandi: manage perception first, reality later

Will the Next UN Leader Be Good for America?

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s time in office is coming to an end, which raises the question: Who will lead the world’s most important multilateral body next? The 2026 secretary-general...

Iran’s Support for Russia and Lessons Learned from Ukraine

Crude new world: Oil markets will never be the same – regardless of how the war in Iran ends

Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is a worthy goal in and of itself. But President Trump’s campaign against the Iranian regime carries far broader implications — many of them...

Americans shouldn’t cry for Orban

Never ignore the voters. After 16 years in power, Hungary’s corpulent Prime Minister Viktor Orban lost touch with the conservative base that supported him from the start, believing...

Center-Right Party’s Overwhelming Victory in Hungarian Election Could Boost EU Support for Ukraine

After 16 years in power, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was resoundingly defeated in the country’s general election on April 12. The victory of the center-right Tisza Party led by Peter Magyar...