March 9, 2018

By Daria Platonova   The low-scale conflict in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, threatens to become a hot war as Ukraine passes a new law titled “Donbas reintegration law”. The law vests the President with new unprecedented rights, widens the prerogatives of the army in the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine and, crucially, calls … Continue reading “Donbas Reintegration Law: What Impact on the Minsk Agreements?”

August 21, 2017

By William Moray The 2014 Ukrainian Revolution – or Revolution of Dignity – and the subsequent Donbass War (Donbas, in Ukrainian) severely impacted the relations Russia held not only with Ukraine but also the international community. Moscow’s involvement in this conflict holds few secrets. Russian annexation of Crimea and its support provided to secessionist rebels in Donbas … Continue reading “Strife Feature | Contemporary Russian foreign policy – Examining the Ukraine crisis”

April 5, 2016

This is the second of a series of articles we will be featuring on Strife in the coming week looking at the role of Proxy Warfare in the 21st century by Series Editor Cheng Lai Ki. Previous articles in the series can be found here. By: Gregory Wilson On the eve of the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, … Continue reading “PROXY Capabilities – The History and Future of Russian Private Military Companies”

June 30, 2015

By Leyla Aliyeva: Russia’s President Putin statement a fortnight ago made on a conference with Finland’s President Sauli Niiniste sent a signal that Moscow is aware of NATO’s recent activities near Russia’s borders in Eastern Europe, and in the case of an attack Russia will strike back at the source of the attack. Eastern European … Continue reading “Teasing the bear: NATO, Russia and the Baltic States”

May 19, 2015

By Sebastian Åsberg: Following the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, an old debate has grown increasingly more heated in Sweden and Finland: should countries join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Having been non-aligned since the 19th century, Sweden – after intense debate – chose not to join NATO following World War … Continue reading “After Ukraine, Part IV – NATO in Scandinavia: Will Sweden and Finland join up?”

May 12, 2015

By Andrzej Kozłowski: A history of difficult relations Polish-Russian history is one of the most complex and difficult among all nations in the world. Polish troops were some of the only troops to have captured and occupied Moscow – in 1610 – and the day of ousting them from the Kremlin is celebrated as a national … Continue reading “After Ukraine, Part III – Polish security & Russian aggression: the return of old fears?”

May 6, 2015

By Conradin Weindl: Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia’s determination to maintain a sphere of influence within the former Soviet Union has been the subject of an intense debate. Russia’s need for regional predominance is frequently attributed to the country’s great power identity. However, Russian domination of its ‘near abroad’ is not primarily … Continue reading “After Ukraine, Part II – Russian great power vs. EU normative hegemony: What is at stake in Eastern Europe?”

April 29, 2015

By Michael Jones: Britain’s Defence secretary Michael Fallon said in February that the Russian Leader Vladimir Putin presented as much of a threat to Europe as ISIS[i]. It seems strange that to assert the seriousness of the threat from Russia – a major nuclear-armed power in Europe – Fallon had to compare it to a … Continue reading “After Ukraine, Part I – Sleepwalking into crisis: Britain, Russia and the Ukraine”

April 27, 2015

By Sebastian Åsberg: “At last, Russia has returned to the world arena as a strong state – a country that others heed and that can stand up for itself” – Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2008. While the overall strength of the Russian state, especially in the long-term, is still a subject of debate, Russia has … Continue reading “Russia and the World following Ukraine: A Strife 4-part series”

March 17, 2015

By Leyla Aliyeva: Latvia’s history is marked by occupation. Since the 15th century the territory has been controlled by Sweden, Poland, Germany and Russia. It declared independence from Russia in 1918, but was reincorporated into what was then the Soviet Union as a bulwark against Nazi Germany in the early days of the Second World … Continue reading “Latvia: what the Russians left behind”