The Kremlin’s activist foreign policy is expanding Russian global influence at a time when the United States and other Western countries are increasingly divided or consumed by domestic problems. The Return of Global Russia project will examine the Kremlin’s ambitions to become a player in far-flung parts of the world where its influence has long been written off, the tools it is relying upon to challenge the liberal international order, and practical Western policy options for how and when to respond to this new challenge.
The Russia and Eurasia Program continues Carnegie’s long tradition of independent research on major political, societal, and security trends in and U.S. policy toward a region that has been upended by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Leaders regularly turn to our work for clear-eyed, relevant analyses on the region to inform their policy decisions.
Andrew S. Weiss
James Family Chair, Vice President for Studies
Andrew S. Weiss is the James Family Chair and vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees research on Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. His graphic novel biography of Vladimir Putin, Accidental Czar: the Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin, was published by First Second/Macmillan in 2022.
Eugene Rumer
Director and Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Rumer, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council, is a senior fellow and the director of Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program.
Eric Ciaramella
Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Eric Ciaramella is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His work focuses on Ukraine and Russia.
Michael Kofman
Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Michael Kofman is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on the Russian military, Ukrainian armed forces, and Eurasian security issues.
Dara Massicot
Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Dara Massicot is a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her work focuses on defense and security issues in Russia and Eurasia.
Thomas de Waal
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
De Waal is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
Eric Green
Nonresident Scholar, Russia Eurasia Program
Eric Green is a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Richard Sokolsky
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program
Richard Sokolsky is a nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program. His work focuses on U.S. policy toward Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
James F. Collins
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program; Diplomat in Residence
Ambassador Collins was the U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation from 1997 to 2001 and is an expert on the former Soviet Union, its successor states, and the Middle East.
Christopher Bort
Nonresident Scholar, Russia and Eurasia Program
Chris Bort is a nonresident scholar with Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program.
As the Kremlin’s antagonism toward Ukraine and the West sharpens, it will be critically important for policymakers and warfighters to anticipate, monitor, and respond to Russia’s military reconstitution progress in the years ahead.
Russian-Chinese “friendship without limits” rests on a solid foundation. Two factors—shared authoritarian domestic politics and adversarial relations with the United States—are most important.
A string of coups across Africa since 2020 has allowed Moscow to strengthen its position on the continent, even as it funnels vast military and economic resources into the war in Ukraine.
It’s the logical next step since Putin’s quest for victory in Ukraine has stalled.
A discussion on topics from Russia’s culminated offensive on Kharkiv, to battlefields of the Donbas, to ongoing fighting in the south, to Russia’s displaced Black Sea Fleet
Russia and like-minded South Caucasus leaders are reshaping alliances in the region, where competition for influence is raging.
Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, and Serbia are caught in between Russia and the EU, building ties with the latter even as the former seeks to maintain influence there and deter the West.
Carnegie Politika podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia, and Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine and Russia's economic stability following Moscow's government reshuffle.
If Ukraine can limit Russia to modest gains this year, then Moscow’s window of opportunity is likely to close and its relative advantage may begin to diminish in 2025.
Putin’s war on Ukraine marks the end of the near abroad—the idea that Russia enjoys a special status in much of the post-Soviet space. But while Russia’s neighbors are seeking greater independence, they are not necessarily turning West.
