Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to distort Western discussions about Ukrainian use of long-range weapons on Russian soil, launching a fresh wave of escalatory threats should Western capitals grant Kyiv such authorization. Putin’s escalatory threats of nuclear retaliation aim to pressure Western... MORE

Executive Summary: US-sanctioned Huawei has significant influence in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and its open-source platform Kubernetes, which underpins US military platforms, including F-16 fighter jets and nuclear infrastructure. The use of open-source technologies in critical systems raises concerns. Despite US efforts to mitigate... MORE

Editor's Note: Following the publication of this article, the Beijing Times published an editorial with the headline "Beijing Times Clarifies Independence: No Ties to the Chinese Government, Ending Global Political Coverage." In it, the editorial team announced that they had made the decision to "discontinue... MORE

Executive Summary: The US-Ukraine security agreement anticipates crisis responses in the event of another Russian aggression, building the “Ukrainian future force” during the war and after, as well as future security requirements in the Black Sea. US-Ukraine joint crisis response would cover both a repeat... MORE

Executive Summary: The US-Ukraine security agreement is the most comprehensive among recent bilateral agreements with Kyiv. Like the others, however, it is not legally binding but rather a statement of intentions or a memorandum of understanding. The agreement conveys uncertainty regarding Washington’s resolve to fully... MORE

Executive Summary: The largest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War occurred on August 1 in Ankara and seemed to work in Moscow’s favor based on those prisoners swapped. The uneven status of those swapped confirmed the effectiveness of Moscow’s strategy... MORE

Executive Summary: Since the United States authorized Kyiv to use Western-provided weapons on Russian territory, Moscow has considered striking back on a new front by providing modern anti-ship missiles to Yemen’s Houthis (Ansarallah), who have been striking shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf... MORE

(Part One) Executive Summary: The security agreements under the Ukraine Compact, announced at the recent NATO summit, look considerably weaker and self-deterring when compared with the original blueprint of the 2022 Kyiv Security Compact. The chief merit common to both is the exclusion of Russia... MORE

Executive Summary: Twenty-three North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)member states have undertaken bilateral security commitments to Ukraine. The ten-year agreements operate under the umbrella of a Ukraine Compact, outside NATO’s framework, and postpone Ukraine’s NATO membership in deference to Russia. The assistance offers are potentially massive... MORE

Executive Summary: The West’s approach to Moscow’s war against Ukraine lacks the clearly defined objective of Russia’s total military defeat. This has contributed to protraction of the war due to misunderstandings of the conflict’s origins and the motivations of the parties involved. The Kremlin’s goals... MORE