Russia
Trump and the Russian ‘Wilderness of Mirrors’
Truth and Russian affairs do not sit comfortably together. Churchill observed in 1939 that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, and we find ourselves today…
Commentary
Russian denials and the Donald Trump paradox
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.
Bobo Lo
Russia in Syria: A course strewn with obstacles
Having vanquished Syria’s rebels militarily, Russia now faces the challenge of reconstructing a durable Syrian state. To convert military victory into a lasting political…
What drives Russia’s Korea policy?
To discuss what's driving Russia's Korea policy, we need a framework within which we can begin to understand Moscow’s motives regarding North Korea’s nuclearisation and the…
How Trump’s new approach to Pakistan might pan out
Perhaps the most notable part of President Trump's new Afghanistan 'strategy' is its treatment of Pakistan, with Trump saying out loud what was once largely debated and threatened…
The Russian ‘taboo’ and the German election
We need to come out of the dead end … Something must be offered so that Putin can change his policy without a loss of face … To express a taboo: I fear that the Crimea must be…
US-Russia relations: No light at the end of the tunnel
Each month – each week – brings new and alarming developments in US-Russian relations. No one seriously expects any improvement in the near future. The only question is: how much…
Mongolia’s presidential election outcome a win for Putin
Khlatmaaglin Battulga - a businessman, martial arts star, and the brains behind a famed, 40 metre high, stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan - became Mongolia’s fifth president…
Russia is weaker than it looks
G7 leaders recently agreed to maintain their sanctions on Russia imposed over its belligerence in the Ukraine. The sanctions are there to punish Russian aggression and deter any…
Putin’s Trump-supported hybrid war on the West
It needs to be understood that Russia views the EU and the West generally as an enemy. To say this is not Russophobia. It has been made clear in countless official Russian…