The six-week war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has ended, shifting the regional landscape in the Caucasus. Yet the fragile peace has come at great cost to Armenia, which feels betrayed by Russia and abandoned the West.
Kyrgyzstan is in the midst of historic political upheaval, spurred on by nearly three decades of government misrule, a frustrated civil society and the rise of unsavory criminal groups to positions of power. The Central Asian nation looks set for more volatility—and the Kyrgyz people will pay the price.
As the battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan heats up, Russia struggles to contend with a vastly more complicated landscape in the South Caucasus.
With the United States shrugging off its erstwhile role as the world’s policeman, can anyone stop the fierce fighting now raging between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
Russia’s relations with Europe are getting worse. Time and again, it is Moscow’s own overreach and missteps that encourage greater Western unity, or at the very least leave the Europeans no alternative to confronting Russia.
Eurasia is squeezed between a rising China and an aggressive and unpredictable Russia. The United States should remain engaged with the region to help it resist Russian advances.
Babel will take you beyond the headlines to discuss what’s really happening in the Middle East and North Africa. It features regional experts who explain what’s going on, provide context on pivotal developments, and highlight trends you may have missed.
The greatest obstacle to countering Russia’s hard-edged foreign policy has been the West’s incoherent response.
Putin has dispatched mercenaries to Libya’s civil war, exploiting the protracted conflict to carve out a new sphere of influence in North Africa.
Russia has been newly assertive on the world stage, but confronting its many challenges at home and abroad may require a new foreign policy equilibrium.