Eastern Europe

From Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik: The evolution of the Three Seas Initiative

By Ian Brzezinski

While there is much to celebrate about the initiative’s accomplishments over the past decade, leaders will also need to make important and difficult decisions in Dubrovnik about how it should evolve.

Magyar’s victory in Hungary should be studied by other opposition movements

By Bailey Galicia

Hungary’s recent election holds lessons for countries such as Georgia and Serbia, where divided oppositions have so far failed to turn protests into electoral wins.

Toplines: Deterring Putin’s aggression against NATO

By Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

Five key places in the Nordic and Baltic region are in the Kremlin's crosshairs. How should NATO prepare?

US secures new Belarus prisoner release in exchange for sanctions relief

By Mercedes Sapuppo

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka released 250 political prisoners on March 19 in exchange for US sanctions relief as Washington’s efforts to revive diplomatic ties with Minsk continued, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

The Iran war is good for the Russian economy but bad for Putin’s prestige

By Maksym Beznosiuk, Will Dixon

From Armenia and Syria to Venezuela and Iran, Moscow’s inability since 2022 to aid its allies in times of crisis has seriously damaged Russia’s reputation as a global power, write Maksym Beznosiuk and Will Dixon.

Russian talk of protecting compatriots masks Putin’s imperial ambitions

By Agnia Grigas

Four years after Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the international debate about how the war should end remains haunted by myths first promoted by the Kremlin more than a decade ago, writes Agnia Grigas.

Fighting mercenaries: A Ukrainian soldier’s perspective

By Alia Brahimi

In Season 2, Episode 15 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by Dimko Zhluktenko, a Ukrainian drone pilot and analyst within the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Ukrainian military. They discuss the realities of drone warfare in Ukraine, as well as the ways in which mercenary forces change the nature and tempo of battle.

The US-Lithuania LNG partnership exposes the myth that there are ‘no alternatives’ to Russian gas

As US LNG exports grow, a Baltic ally that decided to break with Russia more than a decade ago shows the way forward for Europe.

Negotiating with Putin’s Russia

By Donald N. Jensen, Iuliia Osmolovska

The latest report in the Atlantic Council's Russia Tomorrow examines Russia’s negotiating tactics and how the US can adjust its diplomatic strategies in turn.