At present, Iran is struggling mightily with Western sanctions and the resulting economic pressures due to its nuclear program. With the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amin, the country has witnessed widespread protests and violence (Al Jazeera, September 27). Regarding nuclear negotiations with the West, some... MORE

As pressure increases, Turkey’s middle-man position in the Ukraine crisis is becoming harder to maintain. “Compartmentalization,” meaning separating divisive political, strategic and economic affairs from establishing a working relationship, has been the defining aspect of contemporary Turkish-Russian relations. Throughout the war against Ukraine, Turkey has... MORE

No policy Russian President Vladimir Putin has ever announced, including his increasing of the pension age in 2018, has caused more public anger and protest than the partial mobilization he declared on September 21 to fill the depleted ranks of his invasion force in Ukraine.... MORE

With the coming of the new academic year in Russia, the Cossack movement celebrated its achievements in enrolling so many young people in their education institutions; “300,000 young Cossacks” are now being educated in such institutions. This number offers support both for the success of... MORE

On October 6, on the sidelines of the first gathering of the European Political Community, historic meetings were held between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as those of France and Turkey in Prague. Mediated by European Council President Charles Michel and French... MORE

Fast-moving developments in various tactical battlefields of Russia’s war against Ukraine have notably slowed during the past week, and Moscow is actively seeking to prolong this procrastination. President Vladimir Putin, traveling to Astana, Kazakhstan, for a convalescence of several summits, sought to alter his hawkish... MORE

In the southernmost part of the Caucasus, Iran shares a 750-kilometer (km) border with Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan region, of which about 138 km (Zangilan, Jabrayil and Fuzuli) had been controlled by Armenian forces after the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1991–1994). After the... MORE

During his September 13 briefing, ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze noted that Georgian authorities had presented the idea of ​​holding a plebiscite wherein the Georgian people will be asked if they want to open a “second front“ against Russia in Georgia. Kobakhidze... MORE

It is exceedingly difficult to cobble together a rational formula to explain the current state of affairs in Belarus. Nevertheless, the idea of fear, and its underpinnings, may serve as a key indicator here—that is, fear of further involvement in the war against Ukraine, which... MORE

Executive Summary Starting in the 2010s, the use of “security for hire” and paramilitary, non-state actors has been on the rise. Given its expanding geo-economic and geopolitical ambitions—best expressed by the Belt and Road Initiative—China, akin to other actors, will need to ensure physical security... MORE