After taking a break for several months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has returned to employing nuclear threats. During his speech at the Valdai Club on October 5, Putin promised not to change Russia’s nuclear doctrine nor launch preventive strikes. He made clear, however, that Russia... MORE

On October 17, Russian forces launched a new offensive in the Avdiivka direction (Ukrinform, October 17). Since then, intense fighting has commenced along various sections of the frontlines. On October 23, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that Russia had launched multiple... MORE

Foreign trips are now rare occasions for Russian President Vladimir Putin. As such, it was highly important to him to hold a position above that of the other participants at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 17 and 18. Chinese Communist Party... MORE

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The project was initially thought so significant that it was included as part of China's 13th five-year development plan (NDRC, 2016). However, the decade-long... MORE

In Hanoi on September 10, 2023, US President Joe Biden and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng upgraded their countries’ diplomatic relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” (White House, September 11). Vietnam bestows this term on the... MORE

Georgia’s aspirations to become a candidate for EU membership were seen by many in the country as an effective consolidating factor for Georgian politics and society. It seems, however, that the process is having the opposite effect. The closer the European Union comes to a... MORE

On October 2, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) released a statement alleging that three Serbian trainers are recruiting activists with the intent to orchestrate the violent overthrow of the Georgian government (Civil.ge, October 2). The SSSG’s statement highlights the Georgian Dream government’s growing paranoia... MORE

The mixed reactions of Belarusians to Hamas’ shocking attack in Israel on October 7 underline the ongoing societal divisions in Belarus. For example, the Belarusian newspaper Minskaya Pravda published a column by RT editor Igor Molotov immediately after the fighting broke out. The propagandist rejoiced... MORE

Numerous accounts of Russia’s position and influence in Central Asia have commented on Moscow’s declining standing there. Those results are visible in the clear unhappiness of Central Asian governments with the war in Ukraine, what they perceive as Russia’s failure to take their interests seriously.... MORE

When Russian President Vladimir Putin began his ill-advised “special military operation” (SVO) against Ukraine in February 2022, one of his prime motivations was to prevent the former Soviet state from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Since then, NATO members, led by the United... MORE