Section: Brookings (USA)
Russia and the New World Disorder
Read a sample chapter: “Two Worlds” The Russian annexation of Crimea was one of the great strategic shocks of the past twenty-five years. For many in the West, Moscow’s actions in early 2014 marked the end of illusions about cooperation, and the return to geopolitical and ideological confrontation. Russia, for so long a peripheral presence,...
Eurasian Disunion
Eurasian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks examines the impact of Moscow’s neo-imperial project on the security of several regions bordering the Russian Federation, analyses the geopolitical aspects of Kremlin ambitions, and makes recommendations for the future role of NATO, the EU, and the United States in the Wider Europe....
Eurasian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks
Eurasian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks examines the impact of Moscow’s neo-imperial project on the security of several regions bordering the Russian Federation, analyses the geopolitical aspects of Kremlin ambitions, and makes recommendations for the future role of NATO, the EU, and the United States in the Wider Europe....
Turkey and the South Caucasus: An opportunity for soft regionalism?
In recent months, the regions surrounding the South Caucasus have been beset by new instability and conflict. The tenuous ceasefire in Ukraine is barely holding, but Russia shows no intention of withdrawing from its annexation of Crimea despite the West’s punitive sanctions. Chaos and violence reign in Syria and unrest has increased in Iraq...
The “greatest catastrophe” of the 21st century? Brexit and the dissolution of the U.K.
Twenty-five years ago, in March 1991, shaken by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of nationalist-separatist movements in the Soviet Baltic and Caucasus republics, Mikhail Gorbachev held a historic referendum. He proposed the creation of a new union treaty to save the USSR. The gambit failed. Although a majority of the Soviet population...
Russia is showing uncharacteristic prudence—Why, and will it last?
With the NATO summit in Warsaw coming up in July, the rhetoric in many Western quarters is becoming shriller about the need to contain Russian aggression. There are good reasons for concern about Russia’s intentions and capabilities, as elaborated at the recent Lennart Meri conference in Tallinn. But in the last couple of months, Moscow has...
Putin battles for the Russian homefront in Syria
There are lots of ways for Syria to go wrong for Russia. Analysts have tended to focus on Moscow’s military shortcomings in that theater, wondering if Syria will become Russia’s Vietnam. They’ve also pointed to Russia’s deep economic troubles—exacerbated, of course, by very low oil prices—which call into question its...
Minsk is not working, but Kiev should stay with it
The Minsk arrangements that were supposed to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine have not been implemented. Ukrainians and others increasingly question whether it is time to abandon the Minsk process. The Ukrainian government, however, should not do so, as it would dangerously undermine Kyiv’s position. Negotiators...
Time to push back on nuclear saber-rattling
At a May 3 NATO change-of-command ceremony, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter questioned the Kremlin’s tactic of nuclear saber-rattling. Moscow’s jarring rhetoric about nuclear weapons aims to intimidate the West. It has led to unwise suggestions for how the United States and NATO should respond, ideas that should be ignored. Carter,...
Russian “countermeasures” to NATO are coming
When NATO leaders gather in Warsaw on July 8 to 9, they will announce steps to beef up the alliance’s conventional force presence on its eastern flank. NATO also will shortly announce that the SM-3 missile defense site in Romania has achieved operational status. These moves will spur the Kremlin, with some fanfare, to announce military...
