Black Sea

Russia Launches New Offensive in Ukraine

Russia launched a new offensive near Kharkiv, amidst continuing questions about Ukraine’s ability to mobilize enough manpower to blunt Russian advantages. FPRI President Aaron Stein sat down with Senior Fellow Rob Lee on May 13, 2024 to discuss the...

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The Baltic States Mark Two Decades of NATO Membership

Indra Ekmanis: Hello, and welcome to Baltic Ways, a podcast bringing you interviews and insights from the world of Baltic studies. I’m your host, Dr. Indra Ekmanis. And today we speak with Dr. Lucas Milevski, a tenured assistant professor...

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Government vs. the People in Georgia

In April of this year the Georgian government submitted to parliament a controversial “foreign agents law,” sparking massive anti-government demonstrations in Tbilisi. Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets protesting what has been dubbed the “Russian law,”...

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The Visegrád Four: From Troubled to Broken

Since the Foreign Policy Research Institute published “The Visegrád Four: Disunity in Central Europe” on February 23, 2024, the group of Central European nations has experienced a complete breakdown in relations. Despite efforts to display some semblance of cooperation...

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The Technological Pivot of History: Power in the Age of Exponential Innovation

Just as Halford Mackinder, in his seminal work The Geographical Pivot of History, argued that control over the Eurasian heartland held the key to global mastery, the world stands at the precipice of another pivotal shift—one driven not by...

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Crocus City Hall Concert Attack

On Friday, March 22, an attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow killed or wounded hundreds of people. The assault was the deadliest act of terrorism in the Russian capital in more than a decade. The...

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The Fire That Didn’t Burn: Transnistria’s Unanswered Call for Russian Support

On February 28, the legislature of Transnistria, a pro-Russia, de facto independent state internationally recognized as part of Moldova, appealed to Moscow for “protection” from the pro-European government in Chisinau. This preceded Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual address the...

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Putin’s Warped Idea of Russian History

The total wartime losses of Russia and Ukraine are difficult to estimate. Neither country publishes accurate data, exaggerating the enemy’s losses and downplaying their own. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine allegedly lost 406,000 people killed and...

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NATO Needs to Get Serious at Seventy-Five

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently arrived in Washington seeking to persuade the White House and Congress to successfully negotiate legislation that would free up $60 billion to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces.  He delivered his remarks...

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Navalny’s Death and the Future of Dissent in Russia

On February 16, Russian authorities announced that long-time opposition figure and Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, had died in prison while serving a nineteen-year-long sentence. Navalny, forty-seven, tirelessly challenged Putin’s corrupt, authoritarian regime, often at a high cost, and was...

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