Executive Summary: Serbia’s new government is bolstering its connections with Russia through the appointment of Kremlin-linked ministers. Belgrade is also expanding its economic and media links with China following the visit of Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping. The Aleksandar Vučić administration continues to... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin began his new presidential term by holding a week of events to demonstrate his continued reign but has not received the blind following he anticipated. The Kremlin is playing up its nuclear capabilities as a response to the expansion... MORE

Executive Summary: Russia employs various tools to influence people’s minds domestically and internationally, from “positive propaganda” to intricate “information operations.” For a long time, the Kremlin’s primary propaganda narrative has been to instill the notion that truth is subjective or non-existent. The core methods of... MORE

 Executive Summary:  Anti-immigrant sentiments in Russia have led to a growth in inter-ethnic tensions and other hidden systemic problems, such as massive corruption concerning migration. The conditions under which many migrants live, such as “rubber” apartments, have become a perfect breeding ground for radicalization and... MORE

Executive Summary: At the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly in April, Belarusian officials confirmed that Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been deployed in Belarus. The new military doctrine of Belarus declares the role of Russian TNWs as an essential component of preventive deterrence against unfriendly states. The... MORE

Executive Summary:  Ethnic Chechens in Dagestan and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have stepped up demands that Makhachkala live up to its promises to restore a Chechen district in Dagestan by the end of 2024. Doing so would likely require the Dagestani authorities to expel the... MORE

Executive Summary: Russia’s war against Ukraine has given Azerbaijan fresh motivation to strengthen relations with Central Asian countries to improve their collective trade, transit, and energy potential. Continued development and increased use of the Middle Corridor is central to Baku’s increased cooperation with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,... MORE

Executive Summary: The All-Belarusian People’s Assembly (ABPA) has become the central body in overseeing any political transition in Belarus. The assembly has been vested with powers that give it supreme authority over the president’s removal from office, though Lukashenka was elected as the ABPA’s chair.... MORE

Executive Summary:  Moscow has proposed legal action to target the “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” an organization that, as far as journalists and analysts can deduce, does not exist. The proposal would allow the authorities to persecute Russian regionalists more aggressively, including those who are not opposed... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing, Bishkek, and Tashkent have been discussing the construction of a joint railway project for almost 30 years, which runs the risk of completely unraveling due to geopolitical and alliance changes in Central Asia. Moscow and Astana are happy with the project’s delays,... MORE