Politics & Diplomacy

State of the Order: Assessing December 2022

The State of the Order breaks down the month's most important events impacting the democratic world order.

Post-war Ukraine needs a smart digital transformation strategy

By Anatoly Motkin

The war with Russia is far from over but it is important to begin looking ahead and setting the stage for Ukraine's post-war digital transformation, writes StrategEast Center president Anatoly Motkin.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are cooperating with the Taliban. But their approaches to Afghanistan are different. 

By Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco and Kristian P. Alexander

All Gulf Cooperation Council states have come to terms with the reality of Taliban rule in Afghanistan since August 2021 and must pragmatically deal with the situation on the ground.

Soccer players versus the IRGC. Who do the people of Iran choose?

By Arash Azizi

Iranians know who their national heroes are.

Putin’s faltering Ukraine invasion exposes limits of Russian propaganda

By Victor Tregubov

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was supposed to be a short and victorious war. Instead, it has transformed him into a pariah and shattered Russia’s reputation as a military superpower. How could he have got it so wrong?

How Brazil can respond to its democracy stress test

By Atlantic Council

Now that authorities have cleared the protests and launched an investigation into security failures, our experts break down what’s to come.

Experts react: Brazil has suffered its own attack against democracy. Here’s what the government and its allies can do next.

By Atlantic Council experts

As the tear gas clears, substantial questions remain about the state of Brazil’s democracy and institutions—and what the United States can do in response to the riot.

Ukraine’s nation-building progress spells doom for Putin’s Russian Empire

By Dennis Soltys

Many observers seek to blame Putin's Ukraine invasion on his imperial ambitions or Kremlin fears over NATO expansion, but in reality the war is a desperate Russian response to Ukraine's historic nation-building progress.

Rebuilding Ukraine the right way

By Stephen Blank

Ukraine's post-war reconstruction will be one of the largest international undertakings of the twenty-first century. The Ukrainian authorities must begin laying the foundations for future success before Putin is defeated.