Europe & Eurasia

Your primer on the Spanish elections

By Emma Nix, Leonie Müller, and Katherine Schauer

What's going on with the July 23 snap elections in Spain? The Europe Center breaks down the major players and big questions ahead of the big vote.

Global Sanctions Dashboard: Sanctions alone won’t stop the Wagner Group 

By Kimberly Donovan, Maia Nikoladze, and Ryan Murphy

Existing sanctions against the Wagner Group, limitations around enforcing them, and what more Western allies can do to counter Wagner's influence in Africa.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was never about NATO

By Peter Dickinson

Putin's relaxed response to the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden proves that he knows NATO enlargement poses no security threat to Russia but has used the issue as a smokescreen for the invasion of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Putin’s biggest mistake was believing Ukrainians were really Russians

By Roman Solchanyk

Vladimir Putin insists Ukrainians and Russians are "one people" and appears to have genuinely believed his invading army would be welcomed. It is now clear this was a catastrophic miscalculation, writes Roman Solchanyk.

Is Russia really siding with the UAE against Iran?

By Mark N. Katz

For Russia to endorse the GCC's position on three islands is especially surprising, considering how much Iran has done to support Moscow.

State of the Order: Assessing June 2023

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