Alexandra_Koch/Pixabay It has been 365 days since the unlawful Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. No end is in sight. Like much of the world, the team at Foreign Policy Rising continues to hope for a quick and peaceful resolution of the conflict, the re-instalment of Ukraine’s sovereignty, and the prosecution of war crimes committed by Russia. Here are some of the English-language sources we have noticed, followed, and discussed over the past year. These are only a few of the many valuable sources available, so take these as a first inspiration as you remain updated on disc ..read more

Ahmed Zalabany/Unsplash As the first-year anniversary of the historic sanctions imposed on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine is approaching, the coalition of sanctioning states faces a question: are the measures working? Answering this question involves engaging in a host of economic debates. How can we measure the sanctions’ direct versus indirect effects? Should they be considered as a whole or examined by sub-type, such as sanctions on energy or measures imposed against Russian financial institutions? How can we evaluate the costs they have exacted on sanctioning powers an ..read more

Behnam Norouzi/Unsplash 2022 was yet another rollercoaster year for global affairs. But with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, tensions between the U.S. and China, global economic turmoil, and other ongoing developments, 2023 has the potential to be just as turbulent. January’s unusually warm weather in Europe is a reminder that climate change will be a constant issue on the world’s agenda. Noteworthy events to follow this year include, among others, the takeover by President Lula in Brazil, continuing protests of Iranians demanding respect for human rights from their government, and ..read more

Sora Shimazaki/Pexels Italy has elected its first female prime minister. What should have been a cause for celebration (because we definitely need more women in politics) has left observers of Italian politics rather skeptical to say the least. Giorgia Meloni was socialized in a neo-fascist youth organization and some of her views are authoritarian-illiberal or, in other words: non-democratic. In France, right-wing populist Marine Le Pen was even more popular. She achieved more than 40% of the vote share in this year’s presidential runoff but eventually lost to incumbent president Emmanuel Mac ..read more

UN Women/Flickr British civil servant Gertrude Bell was pictured in Iraq having an afternoon tea with Middle Eastern soldiers on a jagged rock face in 1922. She was the only woman allowed to hold the position of civil servant. In 1933, Charles Howard Smith, U.K. Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, was charged with an inquiry into whether women should be working in diplomatic consular services. Smith regarded female access to diplomatic leadership as “unthinkable” and “a nuisance.” We have come far since those days. Today, more than 50 countries have female foreign ministers, and wome ..read more

Timo Volz/Unsplash Chinese state media was quick to blame U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on August 2 as the catalyst for escalating tensions between the U.S. and China. Some U.S. commentators also criticized the visit as being a symptom of Joe Biden’s administration’s “incoherent approach to China.”  However, putting all the blame on Pelosi fails to paint the full picture of Beijing’s assertive policy in the region. Pelosi’s visit does not fully explain why China would risk damaging its already faltering reputation with countries such as Japan, which had 5 Chines ..read more

Dr. Claire Yorke is an author and academic who combines research with policy-relevance. Her expertise is in the role of empathy and emotions in international affairs, politics, leadership, and society. She is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Center for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, leading a new project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Fund on Empathy and International Security (EIS). Between 2018-2020, she was a Henry A. Kissinger Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at Yale University and is currently writing two books on empathy and emotions. It is often a ..read more

Photo by openDemocracy on Flickr The rise of populist movements in 2016, manifest in the election of President Donald Trump and Brexit, sent shockwaves through the academic community. The sudden apparent displacement of the transatlantic liberal order that once embraced globalization and diversity spurred angst and condemnation. Scholars made ominous forecasts warning that the transatlantic relationship was on the brink of catastrophe. But Pax Transatlantica: America and Europe in the Post-Cold War Era by Jussi M. Hanhimäki is a proverbial olive branch in a storm of literature that concludes ..read more

Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash Russian leadership violated Ukrainian sovereignty and brought back full-scale war to the European continent, continuing to commit atrocities against civilians in Ukraine. But even in the most challenging times, there is cause for optimism, explains Kateryna Odarchenko, who is based in Ukraine.  Although many people had believed that the war would last only a few days, its fourth week just began. The days of war are very dark, but there are rays of light, too. Let us look at some sources of optimism, which include the unity of the Ukrainian people, thei ..read more

Dr. Lilia Shevtsova is an acclaimed Kremlin expert. She taught political science at Georgetown University, Berkeley University, Cornell University, and was visiting professor at the Davis Center for Russia and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. She was Senior Associate of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and founding chair of the Davos World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Russia. She has also held roles at the Brookings Institution, Chatham House, and the Robert Bosch Academy. You recently published an article originally titled “What Putin Really Wants ..read more