Executive Summary: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Abu Dhabi on July 10 for their first direct bilateral talks without mediators. Discussions included renewed momentum on the development of the Zangezur Corridor. Both Baku and Yerevan agreed on a... MORE

Executive Summary Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban government in Kabul. Moscow has rationalized the move as a pragmatic concession in the fight against drug trafficking and emerging terrorist threats. While in some ways purely symbolic, the Kremlin’s decision is rooted... MORE

Executive Summary: Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was found dead on July 7, reportedly due to suicide, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin fired him from the position. The active replacement of Russian elites has been a regular occurrence in Russia since the... MORE

Executive Summary: Turkmen migrants are facing increased restrictions on their freedom of movement, with countries such as Türkiye and Russia assisting the Turkmen government in cracking down on Turkmen citizens outside the country. Ashgabat has made moving abroad increasingly difficult for its citizens by arbitrarily... MORE

Executive Summary: Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, harsh sanctions, growing awareness among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states of Russian intelligence tactics, and enhanced counterintelligence operations have made the Kremlin’s traditional information-gathering methods nearly impossible. Following widespread expulsions of Russian diplomats... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine aimed to reassert dominance over the former Soviet space, but Ukraine’s resistance and sustained Western support have instead weakened Moscow’s influence in the region. Moscow’s war against Ukraine has led the former Soviet republics to pursue... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin was unable to attend the July 6–7 BRICS+ summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, due to the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s arrest warrant, highlighting Russia’s continued international isolation amid its war against Ukraine. The BRICS+ summit advanced Russia-backed initiatives... MORE

(Part One) Executive Summary: Kazakhstan has awarded leadership of an international consortium to construct the country’s first nuclear power plant to Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. At the same time, Astana is courting Chinese nuclear, uranium, and water infrastructure companies to counterbalance Russia’s role. Kazakhstan’s... MORE

Executive Summary: Russia is experiencing a decline in morale as its war against Ukraine enters its fourth summer, with feelings of hope and pride appearing to be replaced by indifference and fear. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concerns about public discontent with the war are apparent... MORE