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THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
Though Prigozhin had been a Hero of Russia, the country’s highest military honor, there was no honor guard, no military salute. State television largely skipped over his burial.
WASHINGTON August 29, 2023
Life in Moscow after the falling plane: the anxieties of the elite, oligarch objectives, the future of Wagner, and the Russian rump state in Africa.
Prigozhin was an insider, somebody who existed entirely within the system of power that Putin built.
WASHINGTON August 23, 2023
Putin’s inner circle has always abided by an unwritten code—“ponyatie,” or understandings—about the rewards of loyalty and the fate of traitors. Prigozhin, lured into thinking that he might be special, was never an exception.
The ruble’s troubles in recent weeks are just the most obvious indicator that all isn’t totally well under that glittery façade.
WASHINGTON August 22, 2023
Inside Moscow, the war economy is booming: restaurants are packed, businesses have pivoted to Asia, and, somehow, elites are richer than ever. But with prices rising and the ruble plummeting, insiders worry the good times are a mirage.
WASHINGTON August 15, 2023
There is now a clear consensus that the White House sees the risk of Putin going nuclear as lower today than even a few months ago, encouraging Biden officials to tacitly approve Ukrainian tactics that they once feared would trigger a counterattack on NATO, or worse.


So far, it seems, M.B.S.’s diplomatic gambit is paying off.
WASHINGTON August 8, 2023
The man who allegedly ordered the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and whose country Biden once labeled “a pariah,” is now convening the most plausible talks on ending the war in Ukraine. There are all kinds of ways to launder your image: sports-washing, green-washing, and now, diplo-washing.
The idea of having a legally codified security relationship with Ukraine—a close partner, but not a treaty ally—is now official U.S. policy.
WASHINGTON August 1, 2023
The goal of institutionalizing the flow of aid to Ukraine wasn’t simply about creating predictability. It was also about Trump-proofing foreign policy.
At this year’s Aspen Security Forum, Xie Feng essentially offered the same message as his predecessor (that the deterioration of U.S.-China relations was all America’s fault), but in different words.
WASHINGTON July 25, 2023
The unofficial notes from official Washington’s summer journey to the Aspen Security conference: the disappearance of Qin Gang, the specter of Prigozhin, Putinology, Theo Baker, and what happens when you try to fuck with Andrea Mitchell.
WASHINGTON July 18, 2023
The much hyped “spring offensive,” now well into July, hasn’t been the blitz that was hoped for in the West, but rather a low morale, high casualty battle for every muddy inch.


The recently retired head of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass, in 2013.
WASHINGTON July 11, 2023
An off-the-books, citizen’s backchannel to Russia exposes the ego and inanity of Washington “formers” freelancing as peacemakers without any consideration for Ukraine.
The expectation in Putin’s court is that any purge would go after those close to Yevgeny Prigozhin.
WASHINGTON July 5, 2023
Despite Western media assertions that the half-coup heard round the world was a sign of instability, my sources around Moscow and the Kremlin tell me that Putin is once again in full control. But questions linger about a future purge and missed warning signs.
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