Executive Summary:

Moscow is utilizing the Cossack image and organizations to suppress Ukrainian identity in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Russian bodies like Russia’s Federal Nationalities Ministry (FADN) portray Cossacks in the occupied territories as a loyal military-social class aligned ...

Executive Summary:

Russia is struggling to influence emerging alignments amid U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran and the rapidly evolving Middle Eastern security dynamics. Moscow is sidelined from key diplomatic initiatives despite seeking relevance in the shifting Great Gulf Game. Moscow’s prolonged war against Ukraine has weakened its global standing a...

Executive Summary:

The ordering of chapters in the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan provides clues to Beijing’s shifting priorities. For the first time in the Xi era, the chapter on the country’s industrial system and the real economy appears above the one on innovation-driven development. This could indicate that the leadership sees industrial s...

Executive Summary:

The March 12 verdict delivered by Moscow’s Second Western District Military Court in the case of the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack reinforces that the attack was carried out by ISKP-linked Tajik militants, underscoring the expanding operational reach of the group’s Central Asian networks. The ruling also weakens earlier politicall...

Executive Summary:

Lone-actor terrorists and small cells—including Islamic State (IS) affiliates and right-wing extremists—are increasingly attempting to use commercial drones for remote surveillance, weapons transport, and attacks. The threat is worsened by the easy procurement of drones, commercial 3D printers, and detailed online instructional m...