Tag: RUSSIA

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  Reality Always Wins | Who Russians Really Want in Charge

  In his latest Reality Always Wins post, Paul Saunders digs into a striking recent finding: 55% of economically-active Russians say they’d prefer to be governed by an AI algorithm than by their current corrupt officials. Saunders reads the result less as enthusiasm for machine rule than as a quiet protest vote against Russia’s political system—a

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  US Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory: From Nixon to Trump

  What happens when a president convinces the world he might just do the unthinkable? In US Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory, James D. Boys argues that projecting calculated irrationality can terrify adversaries into submission, but at enormous risk. From Nixon’s secret Cold War gambits to Trump’s chaotic tweet-driven diplomacy, Boys explores how these two

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  May 11, 2026: “The Matter Is Coming to an End”

  May 11, 2026: «The Matter Is Coming to an End» During his lengthy press conference following the May 9 Victory Day parade, Vladimir Putin slipped in an almost offhand remark that “the matter is coming to an end” — a phrase Western outlets quickly seized on as a signal that the war in Ukraine may

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  Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War

  On May 5, 2026, the Center for the National Interest hosted a discussion of Sean Wiswesser’s new book, Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War. Wiswesser, who retired after a nearly 30-year career in the CIA, has written a fascinating book that demystifies how the Russian intelligence services operate; their strengths

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  April 19, 2026: Turning the Screws on Europe

  April 19, 2026: Turning the Screws on Europe Is Russian state media prepping its audience for a showdown with Europe? Recent broadcasts have framed European drone factories as legitimate military targets and accused Kyiv of deliberately dragging the continent into conflict with Moscow. Beneath the rhetoric, a quietly advancing Duma law (reportedly drafted inside Putin’s

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