North Stream 2: Is the gas pipeline’s completion really mandated by history, as the German President has claimed?
Alexei Navalny: The Freest Man in the World

The recurring question of what freedom means in the political and the everyday world.
North Stream 2: What the Germans Must Do for Transatlantic Solidarity

As much as the current German government would wish otherwise, the North Stream 2 pipeline controversy continues to threaten European unity as well as transatlantic solidarity.
US Republicans: Putin’s Party?

In 2020, the Republicans are in the process of transforming themselves into the U.S. equivalent of Putin’s United Russia Party.
Made By Putin? A 21st Century Slow-Burn US Civil War

An overly lengthy transition period can be highly destabilizing even in the U.S. — a nation that deems itself a mature democracy.
Putin’s Devious Plans If Joe Biden Wins

With the prospects rising that Joe Biden will be elected President of the U.S., does the U.S. have to prepare for made-in-Russia mayhem?
No, Germany, You Don’t Have to Pay Billions for Blocking North Stream 2

The German government and the EU have very compelling legal defenses against any claims for damages because of stopping the North Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
Belarus and Ukraine: Historic Parallels, Russia’s Imperial Designs

Belarus is on a path of national rebirth that is increasingly incompatible with Putin’s pan-Slavic expansionism.
Putin’s Russia Is Like Brezhnev’s USSR: Will the End Be the Same?

After 20 years in power, Putin’s balance sheet is weak. Considering Russia strong is a serious misreading of its real situation at home and abroad.
Putin’s 2020 Russia and Vladimir Voynovich’s “Moscow 2042”

Has Putin’s Russia of 2020 been foreshadowed by Russian novels, in a mixture of wicked satire and genuine tragedy?