MOSCOW — For nearly four years, the architecture of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has rested on a single, uncompromising promise: inevitable victory. It is a narrative meticulously broadcast across...
WASHINGTON — In the high-altitude theater of international diplomacy, the margin between a historic summit and an unprecedented catastrophe is often measured in milliseconds and intelligence intercepts. Last week, during...
WASHINGTON — For nearly two and a half years, the waters of the Caspian Sea were viewed in Moscow and Tehran as an unassailable moat—a tranquil, landlocked highway where Vladimir...
WASHINGTON — For months, the waters of the Caspian Sea remained a serene, untroubled mirror reflecting an axis of convenience between Moscow and Tehran. Shielded from the kinetic fury of...
WASHINGTON AND RIYADH — For nearly two agonizing weeks, the sky over Iran burned under the unrelenting weight of American air campaigns. Then, abruptly, the bombing stopped. Washington signaled an...
SEVASTOPOL — For over a decade, the sun-drenched Crimean Peninsula stood as the crown jewel of Vladimir Putin’s revanchist project—a heavily fortified bastion of Russian military might and a pristine...
MOSCOW — For more than four years, the architecture of Russia’s war in Ukraine was built upon a comforting geopolitical distance. The front lines were a geographic abstraction, confined to...
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — For more than four years, Vladimir Putin’s strategy for managing public perception of the war in Ukraine rested on a single, unwavering premise: the front line...
BUCHAREST — For four years, the routine along the eastern edge of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a masterclass in calculated hesitation. Radar screens would flash, European fighters would...
MOSCOW — For nearly four years, the state-run television networks beamed an unwavering message into millions of Russian living rooms: a portrait of an invincible military machine marching inexorably toward...