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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 1 day ago
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Antarctica

    Russia’s arrest of Ukrainian scientist brings the chill of geopolitics to the Antarctic

    Tony Press
    The charge sheet for “high treason” tells of Moscow’s efforts to undermine the Antarctic Treaty System from within.
  • 2 days ago
    • Europe
    • Russia

    Åland, and the fate of demilitarised islands on Russia’s doorstep

    Grant Wyeth
    Deliberately defenceless, this Finnish territory at the heart of the Baltic Sea is still threatened.
  • 24 Oct 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    The partition trap awaiting Ukraine’s territorial settlement

    Mark Pierce
    History is replete with rushed territorial divisions that have left lasting wounds – a warning for those ending the war.
  • 20 Oct 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Last week was a disaster for Ukraine – and America’s allies

    Mick Ryan
    The mood in Kyiv is fatalistic, despondent about Western illusions yet resolved to learn and fight.
  • 16 Oct 2025
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Migration

    Europe’s strangest border: Crossing the Saatse Boot, a slice of Russia in Estonia

    Monique Taylor
    When a simple daily drive becomes an exercise in navigating geopolitical rivalry.
  • 14 Oct 2025
    • Russia
    • International law
    • Africa

    Outsourcing war: Holding Russia and its African partners accountable for Wagner’s crimes

    Shannon Bosch
    International law provides clear pathways to attribute Wagner and Africa Corps atrocities to both Russia and the states that hire them.
  • 13 Oct 2025
    • China
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Russia
    • United States

    Why the US–Japan–South Korea trilateral agreement must evolve

    Ju Hyung Kim
    History shows us that an adaptive coalition built on trust and interoperability can trump formal alliances.
  • 2 Oct 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    When Trump says Ukraine can win back all territory taken by Russia, he’s not wrong

    David Kirichenko
    Relentless strikes on Russian infrastructure are raising the costs of war beyond what the Kremlin can sustain.
  • 29 Sep 2025
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Southeast Asia can play a role in a safer nuclear future

    Izzah Ibrahim
    Non-nuclear states could provide the much needed ballast to the risk of conventional confrontations and miscalculations.
  • 29 Sep 2025
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Russia
    • United States

    Afghanistan must tread a narrow path to stability

    Ishaal Zehra
    Denial and extremism have plagued the Taliban’s return. Will they let history repeat itself or can they reform?
  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Europe
    • European Union
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Why Moldova’s election results matter for Europe’s war with Russia

    Catherine Wilson
    Vladimir Putin has his eyes on a tiny landlocked country that could prove critical in his campaign against Ukraine.
  • 11 Sep 2025
    • North Korea
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Are there actually North Korean troops inside Ukraine?

    Khang Vu
    With no reliable evidence of North Korean soldiers beyond Kursk, the reality isn’t matching the media hype.
  • 8 Sep 2025
    • China
    • North Korea
    • Russia

    The China-Russia-North Korea alliance that needs no name

    Seong-Hyon Lee
    The West should not be blinded by what is plain to see.
  • 8 Sep 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Energy

    Ukraine’s oil war threatens to leave Russia running on empty

    David Kirichenko
    Drone attacks on energy infrastructure expose Moscow’s vulnerabilities while raising costs of continued war.
  • 5 Sep 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Soviet symbolism returns to Russian diplomacy

    Iryna Skubii
    When fashion becomes foreign policy.
  • 2 Sep 2025
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Finland’s distinctive credibility in peace efforts for Ukraine

    Monique Taylor
    The country’s experience surviving Soviet pressure is not the only reason Alexander Stubb has taken an outsized role.
  • 26 Aug 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Anchorage and Washington: Implications for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine

    Mark Edele
    Diplomatic efforts have failed to shift Russia's surrender-or-nothing stance.
  • 18 Aug 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United States

    Why Putin smiled broadly as he left his Alaska encounter with Trump

    Mick Ryan
    The Russian leader has not stepped back from his key objectives of the war and showed he has Trump’s measure completely.
  • 18 Aug 2025
    • Caucasus
    • Russia

    Georgian Dream now nothing but a nightmare

    Iona Main
    Citizens find themselves torn between European identity and geopolitical reality.
  • 15 Aug 2025
    • Afghanistan
    • Central Asia
    • Russia
    • Diplomacy

    Russia and Central Asia are quietly embracing the Taliban

    Pedro Martins
    Once pariahs, the Taliban are seen as partners in a region where pragmatism rules.
  • 15 Aug 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    From drone wall to robot shield: Ukraine’s military evolution

    David Kirichenko
    Kyiv’s frontline commanders are deploying ground robots for logistics and combat as the kill zone expands across eastern Ukraine.
  • 14 Aug 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United States

    Trump’s Alaska summit with Putin ignores what Ukraine’s territory really means

    Iryna Skubii
    Talk of “land swaps” misses the point and sets a dangerous precedent for international order.
  • 12 Aug 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United States

    Trump-Putin summit: The dangers of dealmaking without Ukraine at the table

    Ian Hill
    Washington’s willingness to flag territorial concessions before talks begin hands Moscow an unearned advantage.
  • 11 Aug 2025
    • Caucasus
    • Russia
    • United States

    Why the US, not Russia, made peace in the former Soviet South Caucasus

    Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva
    So much for spheres of influence.
  • 7 Aug 2025
    • Asia
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Russia
    • Technology
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Africa

    How Burkina Faso’s strongman became the Indo-Pacific’s unlikely hero – and other tales of disinformation

    Jennifer Williams , Nava Nuraniyah , Jordon Borg , Julian Droogan
    Digital disciples are spreading false narratives in an effort to exploit anti-Western sentiment across the region.
  • 6 Aug 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Fibre-optic drones reshape Ukraine's technological war

    David Kirichenko
    Unjammable fibre-connected weapons are spreading from Ukrainian battlefields as drones continue to reshape warfare.
  • 5 Aug 2025
    • China
    • Russia
    • Technology
    • United States

    United States, China or Russia: Who writes the moral code for artificial intelligence?

    Nicholas Morieson
    Competing powers are embedding their own values into AI and curating state-sponsored “civilisational race” narratives.
  • 1 Aug 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia

    Belarus’s military charm offensive in Asia

    Elise Thomas
    While all eyes are on Moscow and Jakarta, Minsk is quietly stealing a march across Asia.
  • 22 Jul 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Why Putin keeps making the same Ukraine mistakes

    Mick Ryan
    Moscow’s aerial escalation after Trump’s peace ultimatum reveals the flaws of authoritarian decision-making.
  • 22 Jul 2025
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United Nations

    Chinese peacekeepers in Ukraine would be a win-win for Beijing

    Justyna Szczudlik
    In a skillful and delicate game, China is looking to balance Russia and the West in its support of Kyiv.
  • 18 Jul 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Bang for buck: Why Kyiv is rushing to scale drone interceptors

    David Kirichenko
    The economics of traditional air defence systems are being tested in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
  • 16 Jul 2025
    • Caucasus
    • European Union
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Making Greater Russia again?

    William Gourlay
    Trump’s new world order may greenlight a Russian sphere of interest, but Moscow’s geopolitical clout seems in decline.
  • 11 Jul 2025
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Russia

    Can Seoul’s soft diplomacy break the Russia–North Korea alliance?

    Khang Vu
    Pyongyang is reaping the benefits of its relationship with Moscow. South Korea’s new president wants to woo them back.
  • 3 Jul 2025
    • Russia
    • Climate change

    Putin’s potato politics exposes the new economics of conflict

    Henry Throp
    Sanctions are biting in a taste of the global food security crisis that climate change will bring for world politics.
  • 17 Jun 2025
    • Russia
    • Iran
    • Israel

    Israel–Iran conflict: Moscow positions itself for advantage

    Ian Hill
    Russia is once more on no-one’s side but its own.
  • 17 Jun 2025
    • China
    • Russia
    • Global Issues
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • United States

    Brave new interior world: The rise of self-enhancing states

    Roderick Parkes
    Power is shifting inward, not outward, with control and influence the currency of choice.
  • 5 Jun 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Ukraine’s cheap robot drones extract a heavy price from Russia

    David Kirichenko
    By pioneering tomorrow’s battlefield tactics, Kyiv is rewriting military doctrine and setting the template for future wars.
  • 2 Jun 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    The three punch combo behind Ukraine’s spectacular drone strike on Russia

    Mick Ryan
    Drones make for a cheap threat to Russia’s war machine and a much-needed morale boost at home – but this attack won’t break Putin’s resolve.
  • 28 May 2025
    • Australia
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law

    Sadly, Russia’s mercenary verdict means Oscar Jenkins won't be coming home anytime soon

    Donald R Rothwell
    The Australian fighter's 13-year sentence in occupied Ukraine eliminates prisoner exchange hopes and leaves Canberra few options under law.
  • 27 May 2025
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Russia
    • United States

    US troops in Korea may soon switch focus from Pyongyang to Beijing

    Gabriela Bernal
    Could America’s security rejig inadvertently strengthen an alliance between North Korea, China and Russia?
  • 21 May 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    What to make of the restart in Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations

    Michael MacArthur Bosack
    Securing a prisoner swap agreement marks progress but big gaps remain on core conflict issues.
  • 20 May 2025
    • Australia
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Why Oscar Jenkins’ trial in the Luhansk People’s Republic is a sham

    Shannon Bosch
    Russia is sending a message to foreign fighters with its latest puppet court show in the occupied territory.
  • 20 May 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Ukraine and Australia: A contrast in military learning

    Mick Ryan
    Lessons from the Ukraine war appear to have had minimal impact on the Australian Defence Force.
  • 16 May 2025
    • China
    • Russia

    Xi’s history lesson amid Putin’s party

    Michael Clarke
    An op-ed by the Chinese leader in a Russian newspaper tells a China-centred story of World War II which reveals his view of China's world role today.
  • 13 May 2025
    • North Korea
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Why has North Korea finally admitted its troops are dying in Russia’s war on Ukraine?

    Khang Vu
    Not even the Hermit Kingdom is immune to domestic pressure.
  • 9 May 2025
    • Russia

    What’s really on show with foreign leaders at the Victory Parade in Moscow

    Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva
    Self-interest, for one thing. Multipolar unity may be another.
  • 30 Apr 2025
    • Vietnam
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United States

    Peace without victory: Historical lessons from Wilson to Trump

    Stephen Grenville
    American approaches to conflict resolution follow a pattern.
  • 22 Apr 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia

    Facts gone missing in Australia’s debate about Indonesia-Russia basing deal

    Susannah Patton
    A partisan contest about military ties between Russia and Indonesia leaves Australians none the wiser.
  • 7 Apr 2025
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    A new theory of victory: How Ukraine can fortify and prosper in the age of Trump

    Mark Edele
    A democratic Ukraine in the current de facto borders, with a protected frontline and secure skies, is a better option than a continuing war of attrition.
  • 17 Mar 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Dispatch from Ukraine: The adaptation battle intensifies

    Mick Ryan
    Drone warfare over Ukraine offers a powerful demonstration of the need for modern militaries to adapt quickly.
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