Russia’s Next Annexation: South Ossetia
A leadership shuffle in the Russian-occupied portion of Georgia signals that Russia is still invested in redrawing borders in the Caucasus.
Vladimir Putin
Europe is stepping up to fortify NATO 3.0 — and we must do the same
The consequences of the NATO summit that concluded Wednesday in Ankara will be determined primarily by two questions: Will Europeans step up to honor their defense-spending commitments and carry more of...
Op-eds
Selling the S-400 to Qatar or the UAE Solves Turkey’s Problem, Not Washington’s
Turkey’s decade-long standoff with Washington over the S-400 may finally be nearing an inflection point, though not in the tidy way Ankara once imagined, and not without a fresh dose of frustration...
Insights
7 Fault Lines NATO Must Address in Ankara
As NATO leaders gather on July 7 to 8 in Ankara, the summit’s true test lies in unresolved faultlines over U.S. force posture cuts in Europe, host nation Turkey’s disruptive role within the alliance,...
Insights
Doling out tough love to European countries should top Trump’s NATO summit agenda
This week’s NATO summit in Ankara arrives at a fraught moment: Even as America and its allies face growing threats from authoritarian powers, differences over Ukraine, Iran, Greenland and US military...
Op-eds
Don’t Decimate U.S. Military Posture in Europe
As NATO leaders gather in Ankara next week, there is much to celebrate. Ukraine is gaining the upper hand on the battlefield against Russia. European defense spending is way up. Many European...
Op-eds
Moscow still has leverage after Armenian election defeat
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan survived Russia’s best efforts to influence this month’s election against him. That allows Pashinyan to continue guiding his small South Caucasus nation’s...
Op-eds
Kim Pushes for Faster North Korean Defense Buildup With Russia’s Help
Kim Jong Un is interested in “overtaking the world,” according to his speech at the Second Plenum of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was held from June...
Policy Briefs
You Can’t Deter China by Ignoring Europe
The stronger and more united NATO remains, the less incentive Beijing will have to test American resolve elsewhere.
Op-eds
Farewell Fidelismo?
Trump has a chance to liberate the Cuban people – and others
Op-eds
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...
Op-eds
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...
Policy Briefs
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.
Op-eds
Distrust and verify
The Beijing summit was pageantry; Xi’s ambitions are not
Op-eds
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...
Policy Briefs
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...
Op-eds
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...
Flash Briefs
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
Op-eds
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...
Op-eds
A Gameplan for American Economic Security:
Supercharging U.S. Statecraft, from an Economic Pentagon to the Near-Global Economy