Russia Reform Monitor: No. 2100
Russian rubles spur Ukrainian separatism;
Militarizing Kaliningrad
Russian rubles spur Ukrainian separatism;
Militarizing Kaliningrad
China eyes closer ties to Iran post-sanctions;
Xi visits Bangladesh, pledges $24 billion
You might not know it, but Russia is losing. The official narrative, promulgated by the Kremlin via its extensive propaganda machine, is that Russia is resurgent on the world stage, and that its status as a global power is increasingly unassailable. Over time, this take has become embraced in official Washington, to the point where it is now more or less conventional wisdom, at least on the presidential campaign trail.
When Roridgo Duterte, the impish and combustible president of the Philippines, paid a state visit to China last month the press contextualized the trip as part of his jarring U-turn away from the U.S. alliance and toward China’s lucrative embrace. That narrative, and Duterte’s apparent determination to restructure the regional order, have received no shortage of coverage and analysis in The Diplomat and beyond.
Moscow nixes plutonium pact;
An S-300 to guard Assad