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Simply put, allowing Ukraine to be independent – or, worse yet, to chart a clear path toward the West –would sound the death knell for any lingering hopes of empire that Russia’s rulers still harbor.

President Biden’s surprise trip to Kyiv was gutsy, and he deserves credit for leading the West in an impressive military, diplomatic, and economic effort to isolate Moscow and help Ukraine rebuff Russia’s attempted conquest.

It is rare in American politics for citizens of different viewpoints to focus on the same thing at the same time. Our partisan media ecosystem makes it easy for us to remain safely within our personally curated information bubble—having our preexisting biases and perceptions repeatedly reaffirmed.

Last year, Russia launched a bloody war of conquest against its non-threatening neighbor Ukraine. To Moscow’s astonishment, Ukraine defended itself with skill, courage, and — above all — unity.

Just how solid is the domestic backing for Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine? For months, Western observers have pondered the question, amid signs that — despite an expanding array of onerous sanctions and restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Europe — internal backing for the “special military operation” initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin last February remains high.

In July 2022, against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked on a notable foreign trip. Amid mounting international censure and growing hostility from the outside world, Putin traveled to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials and formally usher in a new phase in the long-running strategic partnership between the two countries.

Xi Jinping needs to credibly believe that we would shoot the next balloon down. Based on the PRC’s recent behavior, he currently doesn’t.

Speaking in Moscow earlier this month, a prominent Russian political figure provided a timely reminder of the Kremlin's enduring belief in the importance of shaping global opinion. 

Pursuing its version of victory, Ukraine has a bold vision for the future. For Russia, it seeks a thorough defeat, one that will prevent future Russian aggression against Ukraine or nearby states.

How is Russia still fighting in Ukraine?...Part of the answer lies in energy. 

Is a limitless source of green energy within reach? With unrelenting global reliance on fossil fuels, a worsening climate, and growing dependency on (often-unreliable) renewables, the world desperately needs a solution.

With few exceptions, aiding Ukraine in its efforts to push back against Russian aggression continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support, both in Congress and among the American public. But precisely how much Washington can and should underwrite Kyiv’s war effort has become something of a political football — especially among conservatives. The arguments are varied and range from worries over fraud to accusations of misplaced priorities. Each has its grounding in legitimate concerns. Yet each fails to grasp the significance of what is at stake in the current fight against Russia’s imperialist ambitions.

The current triumphalism among many in the West regarding the decline of Russian disinformation is somewhat premature. That's because, while Russian propaganda outlets are now having a more difficult time reaching European nations, they're still making major gains in advancing the Kremlin's position—and eroding that of the West—throughout the developing world.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s abrupt mid-December visit to Washington dominated U.S. headlines and commentaries ahead of the holiday season.

With considerable pomp and circumstance, the Biden administration recently unveiled its signature National Security Strategy. The document, intended as an authoritative expression of the Administration’s priorities in the field of foreign affairs, pays extensive attention to the great power challenges posed by China and Russia, framing them as the greatest threats to contemporary American security.

Russians need to understand what their leader is doing in Ukraine. Dissident journalists are critical to reach them.

Return of citizens, reconstruction and reparations.

Even as it grapples with its own domestic unrest generated by an unsustainable "zero-COVID" strategy, Beijing is playing a major role in helping Iran's ruling ayatollahs repress that country's captive population.

With his “zero COVID” policy spurring China’s largest anti-government protests in more than three decades, Xi Jinping now faces the challenge of maintaining his legitimacy not just at home but abroad.

How costly has the war in Ukraine been for Russia?

These developments provide a timely reminder (after a nearly two-decade-long decline of freedom and democracy around the world) that people who live under, or are threatened by, authoritarian rule will take great risks for freedom — and that those who live in free societies may treasure their freedom more than we realized.

When it comes to regional position, a few short months can make a big difference. It's a lesson that Russia is learning the hard way.

Ignoring wiser counsel as well as his people, Germany’s chancellor is allowing Chinese control of key industries.

Is Europe finally waking up to the true nature of the Iranian regime?

Bolsonaro is the first incumbent president in Brazil’s 34-year modern democracy to lose re-election, and he previously alleged fraud in its voting system. Nevertheless, Lula’s victory will nourish a growing challenge for the United States.

Changes are visible at the top of China's power structure—and these are likely to dictate the shape of Chinese politics and foreign policy in the years to come.

The meetings by heads of state in Issyk-Kul and Tashkent earlier this summer showed clearly that America’s abrupt departure from Afghanistan last year and its long-term neglect of Central Asia did not mark the end of history. Quite the contrary.

If the Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous moment of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats may mark the most perilous moment to date of the post-Cold War period.

In his efforts to solve one problem—boosting morale and manpower for his Ukraine campaign—Vladimir Putin has managed to create another.

Putin is making risky moves in Ukraine because they are his best option to buy the time to stay in power.

Iran's turn to the East is accelerating.

At home and abroad, Putin is facing mounting opposition over his invasion of Ukraine.

Nuclear talks with Iran are at an impasse. Just when a deal seemed imminent, Tehran resurrected a demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cease an investigation into potentially illegal uranium enrichment at three undeclared locations.

Throughout what is collectively known as the "Global South" (encompassing developing parts of the world like Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia), China is now more popular than the United States.

A high-profile killing took place in Moscow last month — a killing with potentially massive implications, both for the war in Ukraine and for the stability of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Today, it is increasingly clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran is approaching some sort of political transition.

...the costs of the present conflict have already become exorbitantly high, both for Russia and for ordinary Russians

In less than six months, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of choice has had catastrophic consequences — for Russia itself.

They could have ironed out their differences privately and worked everything out behind closed doors. Instead, unnamed White House officials leaked Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan travel plans and sought to spike the trip.

Some three-quarters of a century after Kennan’s “long telegram,” the United States—and the West more broadly—has little understanding of the ideological constructs and strategic principles animating contemporary Russian decision-making. In the absence of such awareness, successive governments have fallen short in anticipating Russia’s post-Cold War foreign policy maneuvers. They have likewise floundered in formulating a cogent response to them. 

A year later, a majority of Americans (53%) agreed that the fall of Afghanistan was indeed a “generational setback” for the United States.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in late February, the policy conversation in Washington and European capitals has revolved around how best the West can put an end to Vladimir Putin’s aggression

The death of al-Qaeda’s leader is an opportune moment to reflect on the dangerous incoherence of the Biden administration’s foreign policy.

At this critical moment, Washington needs a post-JCPOA strategy that will force Russia, China, and Iran to take notice.

Perhaps the most profound impact of Russia’s new war has been to revitalize the West’s oldest and most enduring alliance. Until recently thought by many to be on its deathbed, NATO has found renewed purpose in deterring a revanchist and neo-imperial Russia, and convinced skeptics of the indispensable role it should play in maintaining global security.

It is clear that Israel is working hard to strike a balance between its own economic interests and a new, and changed, global landscape that has U.S.-China competition as a defining feature. Other American allies should be watching closely, because they will soon be expected to follow suit.

Whoever emerges from the inevitable turmoil in Russia, he, she, or they will have to address the open wound that Putin’s Ukraine gambit has opened in the Russian polity itself.