Vladimir Putin

Last year, Russia’s held a massive series of war games they refer to as “Zapad,” or “West.” The exercises, which usually happen along Europe’s eastern flank every four years, always draw NATO’s attention, in large part because Russia has long been openly dishonest about the size and scope of the drills. In 2011, Russia signed […]

Vladimir Putin, the KGB spy turned Russian president and potentially the richest man on the planet, doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to go looking for advice when it comes to international relations. In fact, a common criticism levied at the world leader from Russians is that his attention all too often lies beyond […]

Three ships from the Russian Navy, including one that is specially equipped to handle radioactive materials, have been dispatched to the Barents Sea in search of a high profile weapon Vladimir Putin recently touted as “invulnerable to all existing and future missile defense and air defense systems.” The nuclear-powered cruise missile was supposed to offer […]

Last month, the Shinil Group out of South Korea claimed to have discovered the sunken wreckage of the 100-year-old Russian cruiser Dmitri Donskoi. The ship, lost 113 years ago during Russia’s war with Japan, has long been the subject of legend and speculation — with many Russians believing that it went down carrying some 200 tons […]

Despite having the largest defense budget on the planet, the United States’ defense apparatus has recently found itself in a bit of trouble. As the U.S. devoted the vast majority of its resources to anti-terror and counter-insurgency operations for the better part of two decades, both Russia and China have been able to leverage America’s […]

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, has been tasked with countering Russian aggression for as long as there’s been a Russia. First established in 1949, NATO sought to ensure peace and stability throughout Europe with an eye on the Soviet bear that was awakened during World War II, and while NATO’s purview has expanded […]

It pays to remember that propaganda is nothing more than government sector marketing, and as such, you’ll often find many of the same tactics employed by fast food and soft drink commercials in use through international level perception management campaigns. Some nations, like China, invest heavily into America’s entertainment sector and use their own regulations […]

Despite the acknowledged effort levied by the Kremlin to discredit Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for president, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that Russia’s attempt to find a friendlier administration under Trump has been met with failure. Although Donald Trump himself has not done an effective job of convincing the American people that he […]

With added pressure on social media platforms like Facebook to root out concerted foreign efforts to influence democratic elections, Facebook announced on Tuesday that it had removed 32 pages and accounts that were involved in a coordinated effort to influence the results of the 2018 American mid-term elections. This effort, deemed “inauthentic behavior” in a […]

There have been a number of debates raging within the United States about the effort and efficacy of Russian attempts to exert influence over the 2016 presidential election. President Trump, himself a controversial figure regardless of accusations of Russian collusion, has been at the center of the discussion throughout — with his opposition arguing that […]

According to recent reports out of Russia, security personnel from the nation’s space agency Roscosmos have been cooperating with an FSB investigation into an apparent leak of information pertaining to their advanced hypersonic missile platforms to Western spies. Russia and China are currently the only national militaries with hypersonic weapons in their arsenals. Hypersonic missiles […]

The United States has a long history of internal cultural struggles. As a melting pot nation that spans across thousands of miles and encompasses hundreds of millions of individuals, our permissive form of government allows our culture to create itself through the conjoining of seemingly disparate belief systems and ideologies. This process is invariably contentious, […]