Europe & Eurasia

Narrative warfare

By Nika Aleksejeva, Andy Carvin

In the weeks and months leading up to Russia invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin and pro-Kremlin media employed false and misleading narratives to justify military action against Ukraine, mask the Kremlin’s operational planning, and deny any responsibility for the coming war. Dive into a full accounting of the road to war.

Our experts decode the Putin speech that launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s February 24, 2022, speech launching a war of aggression in Ukraine was full of false, misleading narratives that Putin, official Kremlin channels, and pro-Kremlin Russian media outlets had been circulating since 2014. Experts unpack the narrative themes that Russia used to justify the war.

Putin could still win unless the West speeds up efforts to arm Ukraine

By Dennis Soltys

Ukraine's international partners are gradually providing the country with the weapons it needs to beat Russia, but excessive caution and continued delays could still allow Vladimir Putin to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

US foreign policy: China is important but the top priority is stopping Russia

By Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

Members of the US foreign policy establishment are wrong to prioritize a "China First" perspective at a time when Putin's Russia is waging a major war of aggression in Ukraine, writes Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

Offensive friendshoring and deteriorating US-China relations

By Hung Tran

The increasingly offensive use of an offensive US friendshoring policy will make it more challenging to manage US-China strategic competition

‘You cannot outlast us’: Biden’s Kyiv visit sends strong message to Moscow

By Peter Dickinson

US President Joe Biden's bold surprise visit to wartime Kyiv sent a strong message to Moscow that time is not on Putin's side and Russia should not pin its hopes on a weakening of Western resolve to stand with Ukraine.