Latest in Russia and Eastern Europe
As Russia escalates its efforts to destabilize Ukraine, it has increased tensions and put the region on heightened alert by illegally closing portions of the Black Sea to all foreign warships and other state vessels.
Putin's influence in three former Soviet republics has been shaken by a series of political crises.
Russia is preparing to launch its first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on Oct. 24. President Vladimir Putin and the summit co-host, Egyptian leader and African Union Chairman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, invited all of the African heads of state along with the leaders of major subregional associations and organizations. Russia almost certainly will advertise the summit as an emblem of its triumphant return to center stage in Africa.
Editor’s Note: The article originally appeared on Order from Chaos.
Twice in the past 14 years, a dispute between Ukraine and Russia has led Russia to cut off natural gas flows to Ukraine and Europe. The stage is being set for another cut-off in January. The European Union wants to ensure that gas continues to flow, so EU officials will attempt at a mid-September meeting to broker an agreement. But they face a difficult slog.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Order from Chaos.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Brussels on June 4 and 5, where he met with the leadership of the European Union and NATO. He reaffirmed Kyiv’s goal of integrating into both institutions—goals enshrined earlier this year as strategic objectives in Ukraine’s constitution.
Almost three decades after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo continues to be a source of local tension and an issue in international politics. The dispute stems from Serbia’s refusal to recognize Kosovo as a country after Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008. The failure to resolve the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia has prevented both countries from joining the European Union (EU).
Editor’s Note: The United States is considering deploying permanent forces to Poland to signal the U.S. security commitment to that country. Such a move would be a massive strategic shift and one that raises many questions. Sara Bjerg Moller of Seton Hall assesses this move and argues that the deployment would not solve Poland's fundamental security problems but would create risks for the United States.
Daniel Byman
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On Thursday, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment of seven officers in the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, on charges of computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The charges concern a disinformation operation against international anti-doping agencies in the wake of news reports on the Russian government’s systematic doping of the country’s athletes.
To read a lot of media coverage, and to listen to her lawyer, you would think Mariia Butina, the Russian national accused of conspiring to influence U.S. policy as an agent of the Russian Federation, was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
As President Trump goes into this week’s NATO summit complaining about burden-sharing, amid inflamed anxieties at home about presidential powers over foreign relations, it is worth remembering the “Great Debate” of the early 1950s. That dispute pitted President Harry Truman and Secretary of State Dean Acheson against congressional NATO skeptics, and it concerned whether the president could unilaterally deploy four additional U.S. Army divisions to Western Europe.