Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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Putin’s Ukrainian Ally Medvedchuk Proposes Donbas Autonomy Under Minsk Armistice Terms
On July 17, Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the pro-Russia opposition in Ukraine’s newly elected parliament, visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where he launched a “Concept Plan to Resolve the Crisis in the South-East of Ukraine.” A long-time Kremlin ally, Medvedchuk is also the... MORE
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The Kremlin Showcases Its Ukrainian Confidant Medvedchuk
Russian President Vladimir Putin is promoting his closest Ukrainian confidant, Viktor Medvedchuk, on the international level. This effort was manifest ahead of Ukraine’s parliamentary elections and is set to continue thereafter. The Kremlin is using Medvedchuk in several, parallel roles: First, as leader of the... MORE
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Summer of Discontent Unsettles Putin’s Rule
Last Wednesday’s (July 31) phone call from United States President Donald Trump probably offered little respite to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since the start of this year’s unusually cold summer, every promising opportunity in foreign affairs was spoiled for the Russian leader with some domestic... MORE
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State-Building Around a Nebulous Nation: The Legacy of Belarus’s President Lukashenka
Whenever Belarus’s vulnerability to Russian expansionism is discussed today, two points are raised most frequently: a) Vladimir Putin may be looking to extend his tenure in power beyond 2024 by taking over as president of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and b) Belarus... MORE
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Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan Frontier Descending Into Deadly Violence
Borders in Central Asia have long been a problem. They were drawn by the Soviet government in the 1920s as part of its nation-building effort to divide the communities of the region, and these administrative lines changed many times over the ensuing decades. Yet, they... MORE
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Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Is Alarmed by Belarusian-Western Normalization
Following predictions by Russian military intelligence (GRU) that the West wants to separate Belarus from Russia and incorporate it into the Western orbit (see EDM, February 22), Moscow’s civilian external spy agency, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), expressed its own concerns about the ongoing normalization... MORE
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Moscow Increases Pressure on Tbilisi, Exploiting Weaknesses of Georgian Democracy
Irreconcilable street protests in Georgia have continued into their sixth straight week, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Opposition and civil society activists accuse Minister Gakharia of ordering the brutal dispersal of a mass rally on June 20 (see EDM, June... MORE
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Russia Emphasizes Non-Military Threats in the Arctic Region
In an article in the military-theoretical journal Voyennya Mysl, Russian Colonel Oleg Gavrilovstates that “on the basis of the analysis of national interests of Western countries in the Arctic region, it is possible to ascertain those [interests] that are adverse to Russia’s.” Among others, he... MORE
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Arms Sales and High-Level Visits Signal Closer U.S. Relations with Taiwan
Introduction The first half of 2019 has seen a steady procession of developments marking a closer alignment between the United States and Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China, or ROC). In May, a meeting was held between U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton... MORE
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A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Efforts in Hong Kong
Editor’s note: Our previous two issues contained articles by Russell Hsiao that profiled institutions and methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cultivate influence in Japan (A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Operations in Japan, June 26, 2019) and in Singapore (A Preliminary... MORE