Russia
A new solidarity? Olaf Scholz on the future of Europe
The German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once quipped that, in politics, “whoever has visions should go to the doctor”. Big-thinking and inspiring rhetoric do not marry easily with…
Downer, Turnbull, Trump and a poke in the Five Eyes
“What he did would have got any other ambassador sacked. It was reckless and self-indulgent and put the Australian government in a very awkward position.”
Strong comments from…
Death of a Russian ultranationalist
In Vladimir Putin’s Russia it is usually political moderates who are afflicted by sudden and extravagant illnesses, “accidents”, and assassinations. Whether the killing of…
Mikhail Gorbachev: The last revolutionary
Upon becoming General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev presented himself as the consummate leader: a party man, a…
Six months of war in Ukraine: Europe’s life and fate
For the political analyst, it is often difficult to identify whether the decisions made by powerful actors are borne of a sense of strength or out of weakness. In this respect,…
India and Russia: friends for a reason, friends for a season
If your friend’s friend is an enemy, does that make your friend a frenemy? In the milieu of Mean Girls, it most certainly does. In the context of efforts to cast Russia as a…
Russia and North Korea: never waste a good crisis
North Korea and Russia appear to be strengthening ties amid Russia’s increasing isolation from much of the world following its invasion of Ukraine. And with North Korea low on…
Russia and Turkey: Sometimes strongmen need to get along
Ahead of this week’s meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sochi, it’s worth trying to make sense of the important yet complex – and occasionally…
Winter is coming: staying the course on Ukraine
Five months into Moscow’s “special military operation”, Russian and Ukrainian forces are locked in a grinding war of attrition. Russian forces are making progress,…
War fatigue in the West
Ukraine’s heroic fight against the Russian invasion sparked a powerful response from the democratic world, not only in the trans-Atlantic neighborhood but also from Asia-Pacific…