Tag: Russia

Earlier this week, Russia and the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia finalized an agreement strengthening ties between Moscow and Sukhumi. The agreement, signed in Sochi on November 24, deepens cooperation between Abkhazia and Russia, effectively integrating Abkhazia’s foreign policy with Russia’s and creating a joint military structure that places Abkhazia’s military forces under the command […]

As Russia continues to exacerbate tensions in Eastern Ukraine, openly transporting resources in the form of military supplies to rebel contingents and funneling funding to established proxy regimes and operational commands inside Donbas, an interesting byproduct of the conflict is emerging throughout the rest of the post-Soviet space. In part one of this series, I examine […]

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit. Harper shook Putin’s hand but told him, openly and in public, “I’ll shake your hand, but I only have one thing to say to you: Get out of Ukraine.” With the recent tension over the Eastern Ukraine […]

I’ve written a few articles now both here at SOFREP and at Foreign Intrigue on what I identified last year as fracture points. Loosely defined, fracture points represent geographical areas and regions occupying space along important lines of demarcation between the two belligerents and represent geostrategically important terrain straddling the two competing sides of the […]

The Chechen jihadist fighter has achieved near-legendary status in the last decade-plus. “Chechen” has become synonymous with “militarily competent jihadist.” Any time coalition forces have met jihadists on the battlefield who maneuver and shoot well, they are presumed to be Chechens. In 2005, the effective insurgent snipers in Iraq were all presumed to be Chechens. […]

We need a new American Grand Strategy if America is to preserve a long-lasting world order commensurate with its national interests and values.

If you are going to back proxies instead of getting directly involved, you’ve got to lose some of the squeamishness and accept that “our guy” trumps “good guy.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is finally intensifying cooperation with Ukraine by promoting defence reforms through building and development programmes. NATO will also send more experts to the NATO Liaison Office in Kyiv. Is NATO finally putting their money where their mouth is? NATO issued firm statements during the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The […]

Warning: This post is likely (nay, guaranteed) to get a little profane.  There, you’ve been warned. The photo above is of Jen Psaki, spokesman for the US Department of State.  The gibberish on the paper is part of a new social media campaign launched by the State Department.  You can see the video of the […]

As the situation in Ukraine has continued, there’s been less of the “World War III” rhetoric floating around than there was when Russia first became directly involved.  Russian intervention in the Ukraine was immediately seen by many in isolation as Russian aggression against their smaller neighbor.  Seen in the light of events over the last […]

In order to understand what is happening in Ukraine, you should know it is not a homogeneous entity but a mix of different cultures and nationalities that have been clashing on this land for centuries. Some would like to be closer to Europe and others to Russia. From a geopolitical point of view, most Ukrainians […]

The deteriorating situation in Ukraine has finally eclipsed into the military seizure of the Crimean Peninsula by Russian forces.  Various reports suggest at least 6,000 Spetsnaz have also been deployed to Crimea in the past few days, in addition to unconfirmed numbers of Russian regulars in support of what the Putin government is alleging is […]