The eighth meeting of the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples took place in Tartu, Estonia, on June 16–18. These congresses, which are held in a different city every four years, are also political summits, usually attended by presidents of the world’s three Finno-Ugric-majority countries—Finland, Estonia... MORE

As the self-styled Islamic State (IS) “caliphate” collapsed in March 2019, the international community was faced with the problem of more than 70,000 IS family members stranded in Syria. The Kurdish Peshmerga gathered these family members into camps in northeastern Syria. Currently, these camps still... MORE

Scandinavian Countries Contend with Lingering Influence of Islamic State Jacob Zenn In recent weeks, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have experienced incidents involving Islamic State (IS) members and supporters operating on their territories. On March 8, for example, Sweden prosecuted a 31-year-old woman who had traveled... MORE

Introduction Throughout the last few years, Sweden’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has grown more tense. With increasing concerns about trade and technology mirroring discussions in other Western countries, the Swedish-Chinese relationship has been further strained as a result of Beijing’s kidnapping... MORE

The pro-Kremlin ruler of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has unveiled plans to set up a republican government agency for relations with compatriots living abroad. The announcement came several weeks after the killing of a critic of Kadyrov in Vienna, Austria. Some observers contend that the Chechen... MORE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since its announcement in 2015, Russia’s proposed Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline has remained the infrastructure project posing the largest single threat to the energy and national security of the European Union and Ukraine. The year 2019 witnessed the culmination of years... MORE

The message from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to his Norwegian counterpart, Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Spitsbergen Treaty was rude even by the standards of Russian diplomacy. Russia has, on several previous occasions, signaled disagreements with... MORE

The Door for Iran Remains Open in Bahrain Brian M. Perkins Tensions between the United States and Iran following the killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani drew speculation of retaliatory attacks on U.S. military bases in Qatar and Bahrain or against U.S. allies, such as... MORE

Apocalyptic predictions have become a familiar feature of news and analysis because often only the most extreme views have a chance of breaking through the media fog. But not only do such immoderate narratives distort reality, they can also obfuscate what actions may be needed... MORE

Since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014 and relations between the Russian Federation and the outside world deteriorated, all federal subjects of that country have turned away from Europe, breaking many of the ties and hopes for more that had begun to emerge after... MORE