Armenia faces significant challenges to its political stability and geopolitical security as it attempts a high-stakes strategic pivot away from its traditional Russian security patron and toward the West—a reorientation driven not by choice but by necessity, as the country finds itself militarily inferior, diplomatically isolated, and abandoned by unreliable security guarantors.
Is the Gaza war truly over? On October 8, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had come to terms on a deal to cease hostilities and exchange hostages, something that had been largely unthinkable just weeks prior.
Central Asia and the Caucasus have recently attracted American attention. Wabtec and Boeing have announced multibillion-dollar investments in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, respectively, and groups of American investors have descended on every country in the region.
Chinese individuals, corporations, and state actors are increasingly involved in both legal and illegal mineral mining operations across West Africa. The negative impacts of these operations on water resources, forests and biodiversity, livelihoods, health, and food security across West Africa have been profound.
As the economic problems grow, Putin’s government has increased its efforts to distract its population from the extent of the financial and political disaster it has brought upon them. This is evident in the holiday atmosphere that fills its capital city, featuring pop-up gardens, light shows, fountains, and theme parks. Street festivals are the most common form of such celebrations, with over 10,000 events held in Moscow this summer alone.