One hundred days into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has effectively “zeroed out” all Russian domestic politics—if politics is to be understood in the classical sense of the term as a competition of public ideas and their struggle for victory in elections. Significantly, last month... MORE

The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC–MP), which President Vladimir Putin has long counted as one of “the bindings” holding his so-called Russian World (Russkiy Mir) together, is in retreat almost everywhere. Indeed, in light of recent events, it is on the way... MORE

The issue of Russia’s naval blockade of Ukrainian ports, which severely hampers the export of Ukrainian agricultural commodities, has for weeks been dominating headlines and high-level discussions at various international forums. Not only is the forcible Russian obstruction of Ukraine’s food exports having a ruinous... MORE

The predominant feature of Belarus’s current situation vis-à-vis its neighbors is uncertainty. Will Belarus eventually participate in Russia’s military operation in Ukraine? Will Belarus retain its statehood or fall victim to Russia’s expansionism? No definitive responses to these questions exist, possibly even in the minds... MORE

On May 22, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and President Ilham Aliyev, respectively, met in Brussels for talks under mediation by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. The event was a follow-up to their previous three European Union–mediated... MORE

The Russian Far Right is heavily divided on both the pretext and the present course of the Kremlin’s large-scale war against Ukraine, yet this split is weighted in favor of the pro-imperial position. The systemic “nationalist” opposition—primarily represented by the Rodina (Motherland) Party and the... MORE

The Russian government has a long tradition of raising territorial disputes against any neighboring country that seeks to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) because Moscow hopes that the existence of such purported disputes will slow down or even stop the process of these... MORE

Throughout the pandemic, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has focused on sharply limiting international travel as a risk vector for the spread of COVID-19, and as a result has kept its borders largely closed. As Beijing edges closer to a total shutdown and lockdowns... MORE

Russian journalists, pundits and government officials who support the Kremlin’s aggressive war against Ukraine are regular guests on Italy’s political talk shows. To justify their presence, Italian television hosts usually say they want to give people a different point of view on the conflict (Secolo d'Italia,... MORE

From the beginning of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war, the Russian Black Sea Fleet moved in to block or occupy all of Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (see EDM, April 6). In the first days of the massive re-invasion, Russian warships attacked several... MORE