Introduction The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) dramatic show of military force in the Taiwan Straits between August 4-6, ostensibly in retaliation for the visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking American visitor in decades, while impressive in many respects, was also... 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

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

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

*To read Part One, please click here. The front lines cutting across the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions do not coincide with the Russian-declared “borders” vis-à-vis Ukraine. Under the treaties on the two regions’ incorporation as Russian oblasts (September 30) and the corresponding additions to Russia’s... MORE

The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) government in Moldova is confronted with the largest popular dissent during its mandate, as thousands of people have gathered over the past few days to protest in front of parliament and the presidential administration building. These protests are... MORE

Moscow has abruptly reversed its decision, made as recently as July 2022, to postpone annexation “referendums” in the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. The Kremlin had concluded that the prerequisites to minimally credible referendums, even by Russian standards, were not in place in... MORE

Eight years ago, Russia launched a hybrid war against Ukraine with the aim to seize Crimea and wrest six Ukrainian mainland provinces—Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa—away from Ukraine. The Kremlin applied the Tsarist-era designation Novorossiya to that entire territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin... MORE

Beijing Steps Up the Pressure on Taiwan in August Following the visit to Taiwan by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in early August, military forces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) conducted a high-profile series of military maneuvers around the island, intended... MORE

Since 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Orthodox faithful and leaders in the former Soviet republics and formerly occupied Baltic countries began to press for independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church and equally the Russian government have been worried about... MORE