Latest Articles about Domestic/Social

Agriculture as a Weapon: Russia’s ‘Second Front’ Against Ukraine
Russia’s unprovoked war of conquest against Ukraine, launched on February 24, is being fought on multiple fronts. Beyond the conflict’s conventional military aspect and the information war, Russia has now been found to be unlawfully seizing Ukraine’s agricultural goods and machinery. According to Ukrainian officials,... MORE

May 9 Celebration in Belarus a Setback to Nationalization of Historical Memory
The ninth online poll of 823 urban-based and internet-using Belarusians, conducted by Chatham House during April 8–18 (Svaboda.org, May 6), showed that roughly one-third of respondents support Russia’s war and about the same fraction is against it, whereas 57 percent are afraid Belarus may be... MORE

Putin Opens Pandora’s Box for Russian Regionalism
At an April 26 meeting in the Kremlin with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, President Vladimir Putin again defended the “independence” of the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” in Ukraine’s Donbas. In referring to these puppet formations, backed near-exclusively by Russia’s military and financial... MORE

An Anti-War Underground Emerges in Russia
Since Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched his expanded invasion of Ukraine on February 24, fires at military bases and train accidents inside the Russian Federation have increased, military draft offices have been set aflame there, and draft resistance has spiked, as have cases in which... MORE

Will Russia Complete Iran’s Rasht–Astara Railway?
The Russo-Ukrainian war has had a direct impact on the status of the various China–Central Asia–Russia–Europe transit corridors that traverse Eurasia. The Northern Corridor branch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in particular, has faced serious challenges and limitations, forcing a halt to the... MORE

Not Only War: How the Kremlin Tries to Influence the Policies of Other Countries
Moscow’s attempts to change the policies of other countries in its favor are not limited to military actions in Ukraine. Against the background of the war, the Kremlin is working to win the support of non-Western states in its stand-off with the United States and... MORE

Could Annexation Be Putin’s Response to NATO Enlargement?
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has energized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in every possible way, reviving the alliance’s purpose and unity, and granting it new attractiveness in Europe as well as greater prominence in the Indo-Pacific. The prospect of Finland and Sweden joining the... MORE

Another Potemkin Visit? Rethinking the UN Human Rights Chief’s Upcoming Trip to Xinjiang
Introduction In March, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced an agreement with China for a May visit, which includes access to Xinjiang. The exact date for the visit has yet to be determined, but recent reports indicate it is due... MORE

Mounting Georgian-Ukrainian Tensions Harm Both Sides
The Russian war of subjugation against Ukraine has complicated Georgian-Ukrainian relations, officially described as a “strategic partnership,” in unexpected ways. While the two threatened Russian neighbors seemingly share the same regional security outlook, ongoing tensions between them have been exacerbated by Kyiv’s discontent over the... MORE

Russian Suggestions That Kazakhstan Is Russia’s Enemy Frighten and Outrage Kazakhs
A rising tide of suggestions by Russian commentators and officials that Kazakhstan is becoming Russia’s enemy has simultaneously frightened Kazakhstanis that their country may be Moscow’s next target for aggression and sparked outrage. For many in Kazakhstan, it is not their own country that has... MORE