Recent Events

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  Will Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Lead to Nuclear War?

  Could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lead to a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States? Few would have imagined that such a nightmare scenario was possible even a few years ago. But Vladimir Putin’s recent directive putting Russia’s strategic nuclear forces on a “special regime of combat duty,” coupled with his ominous warning about

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  What Comes Next with Russia?

  For many years, experts have predicted a return to Cold War between Russia and the West. President Vladimir Putin’s decision this week to recognize the independence of Ukraine’s separatist republics, however, means that a different form of warfare—a hot war—is almost inevitable. The key questions at this point are how extensive the war in Ukraine

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  What Are History’s Lessons For the Ukraine Crisis?

  As the crisis over Ukraine continues to preoccupy the United States, Russia, and Europe, it is increasingly urgent to consider the lessons from history from earlier international crises, particularly those that were successfully and peacefully resolved. The Cuban Missile Crisis offers one such example. Despite enormous tensions between Washington and Moscow, the two sides reached

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  Is a Collision With Russia Over Ukraine Inevitable?

  Talks last week between U.S., European, and Russian diplomats helped to clarify the wide gap between Russian and Western positions over Ukraine, NATO, and the broader European security architecture. But they made little progress toward bridging this gap. Russia is openly threatening to use “military-technical” or even outright military means if no diplomatic resolution can

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  Where Is the Unrest in Kazakhstan Headed?

  Developments in Kazakhstan have moved rapidly over the past week from apparently spontaneous protests over gas prices to an organized uprising, the removal of long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev and his supporters from the government, and a successful appeal for the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to send peacekeeping forces. What factors produced this evolving

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