Doing away with props: Russia and the Middle East in 2021
Anton Mardasov on how Moscow’s actions towards the West resonated in the Middle East
Russia – World
Gas in exchange for sincere warm feelings
Yulia Petrovskaya believes Moscow will not succeed in convincing Belgrade to recognise Crimea as Russian or give up European integration
The Taliban Afghanistan: Between Radicals and Pragmatists
Anton Mardasov and Kirill Semyonov discuss whether the Taliban are ready to stop terrorist attacks by international jihadists and ensure the security in Central Asia and Russia
Russia-Israel relations after the fall of Netanyahu
Milan Czerny takes stock of Russia-Israeli relations as a new government in Israel gets into its stride, and Iran pushes further into Syria
Russian-Chinese Crisis Alliance in the Balkans
Yulia Petrovskaya on how Moscow and Beijing confront the “collective West” in BiH and Kosovo
Arms trafficking in the shadow of the Taliban
Eric Woods warns that the Taliban takeover could be a boon for the region’s arms smugglers, with a major risk of weapons leaking north into Russia
Russian policy in the Middle East: Rebalancing
Anton Mardasov and Kirill Semyonov on the Russian Middle East policy reform
The Taliban has reached Kabul. Why is Moscow so calm?
Ivan U. Klyszcz looks at why Russia seems much less worried by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan than it was in the 1990s
Russia’s Myanmar Gambit
Ivan U. Klyszcz takes stock of Russia’s reactions to the Myanmar coup and what the ongoing crisis has brought to its Southeast Asia diplomacy
Russia’s security mirage in the Gulf
Milàn Czerny finds a few reasons to be skeptical of Russia’s ‘Security concept for the Persian Gulf’
Belgrade’s vaccine bet on China
Yulia Petrovskaya on how Russia is losing the battle to vaccinate Serbia to China