“Never before has the U.S. been so successful in its attempts to convince Central Asia that cooperation with Washington is worth the irritation from China and Russia.” @TUmarov on the possible future of the region:

The White House wants to take advantage of Kyiv’s mounting problems to impose a peace agreement that is more favorable to Russia. But the Kremlin may still believe the battlefield is a more reliable way of achieving its goals, writes @Stanovaya:

How has Iran’s twelve-day war pushed Tehran even closer to Moscow and led to new cooperation agreements, including in the nuclear sector? @NikitaSmagin explains:

International compliance is currently formulated in such a way that the Western financial system does not differentiate between Russian political emigres and ISIS militants. That enables Moscow to punish dissidents around the world, writes @amenka:

"To avoid a catastrophe, the authorities need to restore public trust and national unity." Oleg Sukhov discusses Zelensky's options amid Ukraine’s biggest corruption scandal since the outbreak of full-scale war:

How is rapid Ukrainian and Russian innovation at the front reshaping modern warfare? @Andriypzag joins this week’s @onedecisionpod with @KateEMcCann and @BenWallace70 to break it down:

The Kremlin understands that the latest tax hikes may soon prove insufficient to support the struggling economy, so it is using governors and Federation Council senators to prepare society for further unpopular measures, argues Andrey Pertsev.

"Trump has reminded BRICS members why the bloc matters, while simultaneously exposing why it cannot rise to the occasion." Our newest on BRICS with my @CarnegieEndow partner in crime @OliverStuenkel for @ForeignAffairs. https://t.co/sFwLCyYMwZ

Ever since the failure of the Ukrainian blitzkrieg, Russia has been pursuing two related strategies. The first is to try to marginalize the war and return to normalcy on new terms. The second is to complement the attack on Ukraine with a new Cuban Missile Crisis—to make the West

Prominent political scientist Ekaterina Shulman and others were labeled today as terrorists by the Kremlin. This can cause financial trouble even in the West. Moscow exploits this blind spot to punish dissent — using the West’s own compliance system. My new piece for

Very soon we shall see a “new” old peace proposal from the Americans, combining the April proposals drafted by Witkoff, the Russian memorandum, and the so-called Anchorage “agreements” (which each side interprets differently, or does not interpret at all🙂). It has been presented

The Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria is disintegrating, no longer able to survive in the same way that it has for decades. Evgeny Cheban analyzes possible scenarios for its future:

The heads of Russia's Vologda, Samara, and Kursk regions have attracted attention for their eccentric policies, oddball behavior, and media-savvy predilection for picking fights. Vladislav Gorin explains what purpose such figures serve for the Kremlin.

“Kazakhstan's president is trying to find a way to leave his seat in 2029 while remaining the country's most powerful politician,” writes Galiya Ibragimova, analyzing the changes to the structure of Kazakhstan's parliament proposed by President Tokayev.

"The war in Ukraine has made the global energy market increasingly fragmented, with plenty of workarounds for the Kremlin and its partners to exploit." @SergeyVakulenk0 examines the limitations of the new Rosneft and Lukoil sanctions in @FT:

Syria’s new leadership faces no shortage of immediate problems, not least holding onto power and restoring order. Moscow is willing to assist it in those tasks to further its own ends, argues Ruslan Suleymanov:

Alexander Gabuev: China's leverage over the U.S and the future of the China-Russia relationship

What’s behind the arrest of Ramiz Mehdiyev, who was for decades one of Azerbaijan’s most influential politicians, and why has President Aliyev accused him of plotting a Russia-backed coup d’état? Read Bashir Kitachaev's analysis here:

🎧 NEW EPISODE of the Carnegie Politika podcast: @AlexGabuev and @edwardfishman discuss the latest U.S. sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, and whether this step will persuade Putin to negotiate an end to his war: