With a presidential election looming, Ukraine’s unpopular leader has teamed up with Orthodox Christianity’s top cleric to create a new church and boost their political clout at Moscow’s expense.
The new guidelines Putin signed off on warn of illegally manufactured components for nuclear weapons, as well as of terrorist acts using nuclear materials. This and more in this week's news round-up.
An eminent Harvard professor and author weighs in on Russia’s past, present and future and what they mean for the U.S.-Russian relationship.
Analysis
Russian-Ukrainian Church Turmoil Driven by Political Ambitions
October 19, 2018
News
Russia's New Nuclear Safety Guidelines Underscore Nuclear Security and Nuclear Terrorism Concerns
October 19, 2018
Analysis
Timothy Colton on Russia: Insights and Recommendations
October 11, 2018
Editors' Picks
Analysis
Skepticism About US Intentions and Other Enduring Consequences of Russia’s 1993 Crisis
Paul Saunders
Twenty-five years ago this week, a confrontation between President Boris Yeltsin and Russia’s parliament became one of the most consequential events in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
Is Vladimir Putin’s Russia rising, declining or stagnating? If it is rising or declining, then compared to whom? Answers to these questions are of fundamental importance for the U.S. and the global order.
The ‘Who, What, When’ of Russia Sanctions: A Cheat Sheet for Laymen
Alexey Eremenko
This explainer spells out the major sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and EU since 2014: who has been targeted; what behaviors are to be punished or deterred; what activities have been restricted; and for how long.
Russia on the World Stage: Great Power, ‘Trickster,’ Would-Be Arms-Control Partner
Natasha Yefimova-Trilling
How does Russia navigate today’s international order? Read the views of three scholars on Russia’s changed status since the Cold War era, its use of “strategic deception” and prospects for U.S.-Russian arms control.
Vostok-2018: Russia and China Signal Growing Military Cooperation
Michael Kofman
This year’s strategic military exercise demonstrates both that Russia is still a power in Asia and that it will work with China to offset threats from Washington.
‘Above All, Avoid Zeal’: EastWest’s Cameron Munter on Russia’s Relations With the West
RM Staff
A veteran U.S. diplomat specializing in conflict resolution weighs in on the potential for U.S.-Russian cooperation, as well as the threats, obstacles and prospects facing both countries.
Scholar Timothy Snyder, among many others, has described Russia—or at least the Putin regime—as “fascist.” Laruelle takes a look at, and debunks, Snyder's four main claims for justifying the label.
Nuclear Near Miss: Remembering the ‘Man Who Saved the World’
RM Staff
Next week marks 35 years since America and Russia narrowly avoided a nuclear war, largely thanks to one man who decided that an early-warning signal showing U.S. missiles flying at the USSR was a false alarm.
Examining Putin’s three military interventions abroad, the author sees a pattern in which two conditions must be present for Russia to intervene with force: a threat to its vital interests and a reasonable chance of success.
