We need to get real about Russia and China—or risk being led into another disastrous war. Realism, as a theory of foreign policy, has been linked in the popular mind of the west both to cynical Realpolitik—in the mould of Henry Kissinger—and to a propensity to wage war. The first charge has a superficial validity....Read More

For many years, it has been a standard trope of liberal writing on hostilities between nations and ethnicities that these are not rooted either in inherited conflicts or real contemporary clashes of interest but are rather “constructed” by wicked political elites to serve their own political and economic ends. This is an argument that has...Read More

Thanks to its waning relationships in the West, Russia is developing ever closer ties with key Asian allies, most notably India. Russia wants friends but is prepared to be regarded as an enemy. The country’s sinister image was reinforced last year when its military undertook simulated attacks across northern Europe, prompting the head of the...Read More

Former global energy competitors and geopolitical rivals in the Middle East and Central Asia, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been resolving their differences in order to build a long term strategic partnership. Recent backdrop to Russia-Saudi relations Following on from Saudi’s deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister, Prince Mohammed’s visit to Moscow, in early 2017,...Read More

Russia, Ukraine and Belarus lie geographically and geo-economically between the Atlantic core states and the Far East. They are attracted in two directions – by the capital rich Atlantic core, which seeks new locations for investment and by East Asia which wants these countries’ energy supplies, primary and semi processed goods. Thus it is understandable...Read More

The greatest disappointment of the post-Communist era has been the failure of the West – particularly Europe – to build a successful relationship with Russia. Most policymakers and experts expected that, after an inevitably troublesome period of transition, Russia would join the United States and Europe in a strategic and economic partnership, based on shared...Read More