To understand Russia’s current obsession with Ukraine, it is important to recognize that Russia was never a state in the common usage of the term. Unlike the modern Turkish state that emerged from the Ottoman Empire, or Great Britain, which acquired and lost an empire, Russia never had an identity separate from empire. As British
ORIGINAL SOURCE On August 10, Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council vice president and senior director of the Scowcroft Center, was quoted by Voice of America on how China’s lagging economic growth could raise the risk of war in the South China Sea. Kroenig believes that Chinese President Xi Jinping does not recognize that “China’s economic growth
It’s tough to tell which is more important: what did or did not happen. First, what happened: On August 10, a military junta declared a new government in Niger. This came after the junta, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, seized power on July 26 from Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who remains under house
A deadly Russian airstrike close to a Ukrainian hotel and restaurant frequented by international journalists is fueling accusations that the Kremlin is deliberately targeting international media representatives in Ukraine. The August 7 bombing in east Ukrainian city Pokrovsk that killed nine people and wounded nearly 90 was the latest in a series of attacks on
The brutality of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shocked many, even as Ukrainians and regional experts have noted that today’s war crimes fit broader patterns of Russian aggression against Ukrainians stretching back centuries. As evidence of atrocities continues to accumulate, the international legal community is closely monitoring the situation. In May 2022, the New
As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Russia’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains. With more than seven years of experience monitoring the situation in Ukraine—as well as Russia’s use of propaganda and disinformation to undermine the United States, NATO,
Ukraine’s long quest to secure F-16 fighter jets continues to edge forward, but there is still no clarity over when the planes may actually enter Ukrainian service. Speaking on August 8, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that US President Joe Biden has “given the green light to allow training to move forward,” but
Over the past weekend, Saudi Arabia hosted senior officials from more than forty countries and international organizations in Jeddah to discuss the ten-point peace plan presented last year by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He participated virtually, and the United States was represented in Jeddah by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. This was a follow-up to
On a languid recent August evening in downtown Odesa, the street action abruptly came to a standstill as a DJ played a contemporary version of the Ukrainian national anthem. Almost everyone stood up and began to sing along. As if on cue, a breeze brought to life a nearby Ukrainian flag fluttering where a monument
In recent weeks, an unsettling narrative has begun to take shape in some segments of the international information space. With Ukraine’s much hyped counteroffensive making minimal progress, a range of commentators have started suggesting the time has come to push Ukraine to the negotiating table rather than prolong the current stalemate. Such arguments are dangerously
