Russia
Failure to address corruption has weakened democracies and enabled organized crime, but Russia and China use graft an instrument of state control.
No Result Found
October 9, 2026
Putin and Xi United by a Love of Corruption
Failure to address corruption has weakened democracies and enabled organized crime, but Russia and China use graft an instrument of state control.
October 7, 2026
China Needs Russia in the Fight
Russia is increasingly dependent on China, but that does not make the relationship one-sided. Moscow still brings assets to the partnership that Beijing cannot afford to lose.
October 5, 2026
Putin and His War Without End
The Russian leader has set out his demands: Europe must bend the knee, or the war will go on and on and on.
September 28, 2026
Russia’s 2027 Budget: Guns Now, Pay Later
Moscow's new budget funds another year of war by squeezing everything else, and even that plan is unlikely to survive contact with reality.
September 28, 2026
The Russia-North Korea Partnership: Transactional Only
Ties between the two countries are based on self-interest. That opens a small window of opportunity for Ukraine and its allies.
September 25, 2026
How to Fight Putin’s War on Reality
If the West wants change in Moscow, it needs to stop undermining Russia’s opposition media as it reports the truth about the Kremlin’s disastrous war.
September 22, 2026
Narrative Failure: Russia and the West have a Storytelling Problem
Persuasion is most effective when there’s a compelling story, but after four and a half years of full-scale war, neither Moscow nor the West has produced a clear narrative of the conflict or how it might end.
September 18, 2026
Russia’s Rigged Elections Still Serve a Purpose
Putin’s regime fixes election outcomes, but relies on the real numbers to assess resistance.
September 18, 2026
Russia’s Election Campaign Puts Governors on the Hook
The Kremlin devolves vote fixing and coerced turnout to the leaders of its regions. Expectations are high and failure is punished.