*To read Part One, please click here. Poland is one of the most engaged Euro-Atlantic actors in the West’s proxy war with Russia over Ukraine. The military, societal and humanitarian support Poland continues to provide Ukraine has pushed the two neighboring states to deepen their... MORE

The post-Soviet transformation took Russia from a fledgling democracy to a corrupt autocracy, but, since the start of the war against Ukraine, the Kremlin has taken a new turn, which amounts to a resolute top-down effort at reversing what progress has been achieved in modernizing... MORE

Buying S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia has become one of the main sources of dispute between Washington and Ankara. As a result of that purchase, Turkey was removed from the F-35 stealth jet fighter program in 2019; and the following year, it fell under... MORE

After implementing a number of trans-Eurasian energy and logistics mega-projects, such as the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline, Southern Gas Corridor and Trans-Caspian International Transportation Route, Azerbaijan has also strategically committed itself to policies designed to turn the South Caucasus country into a regional digital hub (see... MORE

Today or tomorrow (June 23, 24), Moldova is expected to formally be awarded the status of candidate for membership in the European Union. This outcome will not only emphasize the East European country’s increasing turn away from the Russian Federation and toward the West but... MORE

Uncertainty hangs over Belarus’s geopolitical situation. Will the Belarusian army eventually join Russia’s war effort? Will those issuing Western sanctions distinguish between Russia and Belarus? Are there any prospects whatsoever in mending fences with the West? Thus far, no definitive responses to these questions can... MORE

The West’s fears of humiliating Russia too much by ensuring its defeat in the war against Ukraine run much more deeply than the unfortunate turn of phrase uttered in recent weeks by French President Emmanuel Macron (see EDM, June 13). Last Thursday (June 16), Macron... MORE

One of the defining themes of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s first decade in power has been to promote self-sufficiency to insulate the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economy and political system from external shocks. These efforts have assumed added urgency as a result of the... MORE

Introduction State media in China remains equivocal about the level of destruction and mayhem caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the Chinese government has stated it will meet the challenge of overcoming strained global supplies resulting from the conflict, and has emphasized that... MORE

Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the ensuing international sanctions have particularly harmed Kaliningrad Oblast, a coastal exclave that is physically separated from Russia and wedged between two European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members. Local sources have reported skyrocketing prices for... MORE