Alexander Klaskovsky, one of the longest-serving opposition-minded journalists in Belarus, recently leveled criticism against Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s so-called “United Transitional Cabinet,” a self-proclaimed government-in-exile. The three major targets of Klaskovsky’s criticism are the cabinet’s insistence that Belarus is a country occupied by Russia, their rhetorical emphasis... MORE

Click here to read Part One, Part Two and Part Three. Moldova is the last remaining target of Russia’s “special status” playbook, in this case in Transnistria. This is also the last conflict in which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) barely clings... MORE

Click here to read Part One and Part Two. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has lost relevance and even access to the conflict-resolution process between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh. The OSCE had, in 1994, mandated a haphazardly formed group of... MORE

On December 5, two Ukrainian strikes on Russian air bases deep into Russian territory and far from the frontlines produced a painful shock for Russian forces and could signify a further mutation, if not escalation, of the war. Each time Ukrainian forces deliver a long-range... MORE

Read Part One here. This year’s Polish chairmanship barred Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from entering Poland for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) year-end ministerial meeting. Warsaw cited international sanctions on Lavrov over his role in the 2022 re-invasion of Ukraine... MORE

After some initial caution, the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP) has become a slavish propaganda tool for President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Overall, this shift has done nothing to stem the decline in the church’s influence in... MORE

Introduction Questions about the unity of Italy’s new government on several key foreign policy issues persist, ranging from the extent of its support for Ukraine to its commitment to various European Union institutions. However, on the issue of China, the new government of Prime Minister... MORE

On November 25, right before Russia’s observation of Mother’s Day, President Vladimir Putin met with women who were purportedly mothers of soldiers serving in the “special military operation” in Donbas. In a move not seen since the Russian president met with the mothers of those... MORE

The recent successes of Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv and Kherson offensive operations has given rise to countless speculations about the future course of Ukrainian actions. It is becoming more obvious that Ukraine will do its best to exploit to the fullest extent possible this... MORE

Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine this year is not, for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a dramatic watershed or existential crossroads as it has been made out to be. The OSCE has all along been mired in a deep crisis inherent... MORE