Foreign policy
Russia - EU

Europe as the Chief Adversary: How Moscow Has Rewritten Its Threat Hierarchy

Anton Barbashin on Russia’s contradictory stance toward the European Union
Riddle Political News Week
«A Just Russia» in the Red
Andrey Pertsev sums up the political week (December 1−5)
Andrey Pertsev sums up the political week (December 1−5)
By Andrey Pertsev
Riddle Economic News Week
Unloved Labor Lost
Nicholas Trickett with the economic summary of the week (November 24−28)
Nicholas Trickett with the economic summary of the week (November 24−28)
By Nick Trickett
Taming the Machines: How Russian Propaganda is Training AI Language Models

Anna Andreyeva on how Kremlin-aligned disinformation is seeping from obscure websites into the responses of popular chatbots
Kadyrov’s desired successor comes of age. What now?

Harold Chambers on the persistence of structural obstacles to a direct Kadyrov family succession
Russia in the New Syria: From Indispensable Ally to Auxiliary Partner

Nikita Smagin on how Damascus is closing the door on a return to Russian dominance
Witnesses of Chaos

Anton Barbashin on the Five Postulates of Russia’s «Chaos Theory»
A Preview of the Caucasus to Come

Roman Chernikov on how the interests of Moscow and Washington unexpectedly converged on the Caucasian rails — and why this doesn’t make life any easier for Yerevan
Top reads
  • Russia’s Securitized Boomerism

    Julian G. Waller discusses the problem of generational sclerosis within Russia’s elite and new efforts at belated reform

  • Five Principles of Russia’s New Middle East Policy

    Nikolai Kozhanov on Russia's Evolving Footprint in the Middle East and North Africa since 2022

  • The Visa-Free Litmus Test

    Alexey Uvarov on the twists and turns of Russia's visa talks with the EU

  • Witnesses of Chaos

    Anton Barbashin on the Five Postulates of Russia’s «Chaos Theory»

  • Chronicle of a Deal Missed

    Anton Barbashin on what Trump wanted from the Kremlin, what Moscow offered in return—and why a year of the most intense Russia-U.S. talks in decades ended back at square one

  • A Preview of the Caucasus to Come

    Roman Chernikov on how the interests of Moscow and Washington unexpectedly converged on the Caucasian rails — and why this doesn’t make life any easier for Yerevan

  • Russia in the New Syria: From Indispensable Ally to Auxiliary Partner

    Nikita Smagin on how Damascus is closing the door on a return to Russian dominance

  • Kadyrov’s desired successor comes of age. What now?

    Harold Chambers on the persistence of structural obstacles to a direct Kadyrov family succession

Authors
  • Anton Barbashin

    Editorial director at Riddle, political analyst
  • Anna Andreeva

    Journalist-analyst in the field of digital technologies
  • Harold Chambers

    Analyst on conflict, nationalism, and security in the North Caucasus
  • Nikita Smagin

    Expert on Iran, Islamism and Russia’s foreign policy in the Middle East, author of the book «Iran for Everyone: Paradoxes of Life in an Autocracy under…
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