Blog post archive

Monday, 11 Sep 2023
Russia Remains Stubborn on Non-Renewal of Ukraine Grain Deal

It has been almost two months since Russia terminated the United Nations–approved deal ensuring the safe export of Ukrainian wheat and corn from its Black Sea ports. And following his most recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 4 in Sochi, Russian President Vladmir Putin seems resolute ...

Tuesday, 29 Aug 2023
Curtains for Wagner: Can Russia’s Show in Africa Go On?

The fall of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and its impact on Russian activities in Africa: diminished authority of President Putin, fading diplomatic influence, and declining mercenary power pose challenges to sustaining interventions on the continent. The abrupt end to the spectacular career of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner Group ...

Monday, 10 Jul 2023
The Wagner Mutiny Damages Russia’s Policy in Africa

The resonance from the June 24 mutiny attempted by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the notorious Wagner group, remains strong, despite the attempts by President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate a swift restoration of stability in Russia. Domestic Weakness The full impact on the ability of Russian troops to withstand the ...

Tuesday, 4 Jul 2023
Failures of Putin Regime Distort Russian Political Perspectives

Questions about the drivers, participants and consequences of the Wagner Group mutiny on June 23 and 24 are set to remain unanswered as the Russian leadership finds it necessary to close that shocking page. Business as usual President Vladimir Putin has executed a sharp turn from describing Yevgeny Prigozhin’s escapade ...

Tuesday, 27 Jun 2023
Mutiny Undercuts Russian Intrigues in the Global South

The weekend mutiny of the Wagner Group, pathetic as it may look in hindsight, is certain to affect Russia’s ability to sustain its aggression against Ukraine and to repel the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive. But it will also resonate in a much wider sense. Russian intrigues One of these wider impacts ...

Tuesday, 20 Jun 2023
Russia Stays on the Course of Economic Delusion and Military Attrition

The summer economic forum in St. Petersburg used to be a vanity fair of Russian opulence and corruption. But last week’s modest, if not frugal, event was rather an exercise in self-reassurance of sustainable stagnation. The international profile of the event was seriously curtailed The international profile of the event ...

Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Three Russian Discourses and Significant Silence on the War in Ukraine

The noise of jingoist propaganda and anti-Western hysteria emanating from Moscow is not as monotonous as it often seems, and the variations expose significant differences between and within Russian elite groups. Recent military setbacks, such as the destruction of a mixed air group over the Bryansk region on May 13 ...