It’s all got a feeling of deja vu.
Russia is again massing troops and moving ballistic missile systems near Ukraine’s border and is accusing Kyiv of violating the terms of a ceasefire agreement in the Donbas region. Continue reading
We now live in a world of impunity. We now live in a world where might makes right and the rules are increasingly optional. In many ways, we now live in Vladimir Putin’s world. So how do we get out of it? Continue reading
The thing about Russia is that it is never as strong as it appears — and it is never as weak as it appears. So how strong is Russia really? And how much policy attention should it be receiving? Continue reading
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently invoked the NATO boogeyman as justification for closer military integration with Belarus. And that may be a sign that Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s gambit to go all in on Moscow’s conflict with the West has convinced the Kremlin to keep him around. Continue reading
Shots were fired at the Belarusian-Polish border last week. Continue reading
The recently published Pandora Papers has exposed how politicians and public officials use offshore tax havens to hide their wealth and evade taxes. Continue reading
With the focus of the United States largely on a rising and increasingly bellicose China — and with Russia being dismissed by many as a declining regional power — fears are mounting that the European front is not getting the attention it demands. Continue reading
On the sidelines of February 2015 Minsk peace talks seeking to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine’s Donbas region, a live microphone picked up a conversation between Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the then Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko. Continue reading
According to a growing number of pro-Kremlin commentators, the spectre haunting Belarus is the threat of “Belarusization,” meaning the promotion of the Belarusian language, history, and culture. Continue reading
Russia’s support, of course, always comes with strings attached. And in this case, the price appears to be turning Belarus into an effective extension of Russia’s Western Military District. Continue reading
