Can Putin and Trump Succeed at Improving Russian-American Relations?

by Mark N. Katz President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have made clear that they have a more positive view of each other than either has of outgoing President Barack Obama. Russian-American relations soured considerably during the Obama… Continue Reading

Why Russia Hasn’t Played Spoiler to the Iran Nuclear Talks

by Mark N. Katz U.S.-Russian relations have sharply deteriorated, to put it mildly, over Ukraine in recent months. There has been widespread talk about the re-emergence of a new Cold War between Washington and Moscow. Indeed, some have even argued that… Continue Reading

What’s Happening in Ukraine: A Primer

by Derek Davison On February 27 gunmen seized control of government buildings in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine and raised a Russian flag over the headquarters of the Crimean Parliament in the regional capital Simferopol. This began a… Continue Reading

Thinking Regionally on Syria

by Robert E. Hunter Following the US-Russian agreement, the Syrian government’s chemical weapons must now be destroyed. To do this without putting UN employees at impossible risk, the Syrian civil war must also stop. To do that requires a plan… Continue Reading

Obama and Putin: Co-Dependent on Syria

by Mark N. Katz The international relations of the Syrian conflict has taken center stage in recent days. President Obama first announced that he would launch a military strike against Syria in response to the Assad regime’s use of chemical… Continue Reading