This is a legacy website featuring a collection of work by the Carnegie Endowment’s global network of scholars on topics including Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, and the post-Soviet states. This site is a product of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Washington, D.C. For more recent work by Carnegie scholars in this field, please visit Carnegie Politika.
While the world waits for a Fourth Wave of Democracy, it is witnessing a diametrically different phenomenon: a surge of new authoritarianism.
Russia has the potential to play a critical role as a global mediator, moderating international tension and fostering global understanding. Unfortunately, as things stand today, this potential remains unrealized.
Shifts in Russia’s foreign policy following Putin’s return to power result from significant changes in the country’s domestic situation and a shifting global environment.
Hassan Rowhani’s victory in the Iranian presidential election shows a radical conservative agenda does not enjoy widespread support in Iran.
The causes and nature of the Russian and Turkish protests, as well as the respective regimes’ reactions to them, are strikingly similar.
The two-year-old Syrian conflict sharply escalated in recent weeks, hence necessitating a renewed U.S.-Russian effort to find a solution to the crisis and solve inner tensions within the Syrian opposition.
Central Asia is in a period of transition. Many tenets of Soviet infrastructure and culture have expired and rather than renew these precedents, the countries are emphasizing individual development.
Russia is re-emerging as a power in the Middle East. Yet Moscow’s objectives today are vastly different.
In order to develop an effective strategic approach toward Russia, Europeans must deepen their understanding of the changing Russian realities.
Russia is clearly concerned with the rise of Islamist extremists in the Middle East and is looking for ways to prevent destabilization in the region. At the same time, it is seeking to improve ties with various Arab countries.