Europe & Eurasia

Russian-Belarusian military merger accelerates on NATO’s eastern flank

By Brian Whitmore

The accelerating military merger between Russia and Belarus is dramatically altering the regional security equation and creating an authoritarian army on the European Union's eastern frontier.

Vladimir Putin accused of weaponizing Russian gas

By Diane Francis

With construction work on Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline now complete, critics say Moscow is weaponizing gas deliveries to Europe in a bid to speed up the lengthy certification process.

Ukraine’s top soccer stars join the country’s Ukrainian language renaissance

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine's national football team captain Andriy Yarmolenko recently conducted a press conference in Ukrainian, marking the latest small step forward in what is a wider renaissance of the Ukrainian language.

State of the Order: Assessing August 2021

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

Belarus dictator poses growing threat to Ukraine

By Lisa Yasko

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka's growing dependence on the Kremlin is allowing Vladimir Putin to expand his military presence in Belarus and creating a new front in Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy vows to fight for judicial reform

By Halyna Chyzhyk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called an extraordinary meeting of politicians, diplomats, and members of the judiciary in order to prevent his flagship judicial reform drive from being sabotaged and derailed.

Cyber defense across the ocean floor: The geopolitics of submarine cable security

By Justin Sherman

The vast majority of intercontinental global Internet traffic—upwards of 95 percent—travels over undersea cables that run across the ocean floor. The construction of new submarine cables is a key part of the constantly changing physical topology of the Internet worldwide. However, this dependence is not matched by increased security, leaving our undersea cables—the core of the global internet—at risk.