The Ambassador Has Left the Building
Russia has had no ambassador in London since at least July 2026, and the Kremlin seems in no hurry to name one. By one count, only 35 of its 58 diplomatic posts remain, and its intelligence stations are reportedly close to collapse. Yet Moscow is threatening Britain with "catastrophic consequences".
Between Sartre and Levinas: Critical Thinking, Jewish Identity, and Anti-Semitism
Sartre explained Jewish destiny through the anti-Semite. Levinas objected that Judaism is not a result of anti-Semitism. Both rejected liberal abstraction, for opposite reasons. The same fork reappeared in 2022: in Putin's rhetoric of denazifying Ukraine and in an open letter from Ukrainian Jews to Israel.
A Pyramid Instead of a Sphinx: How the Lubyanka Is Destroying Russian Diplomacy in the Middle East
Aidar Aganin, a leading Arabist who reopened Russia's embassy in Tripoli, was the natural choice for Cairo. The post is instead going to a Turkologist who ran the Foreign Ministry's information security department, a field long tied to the FSB and SVR. Since Bogdanov left, security men have been taking over the Arab desks.
The Story of One Emigration, or How to Go On Living in Russia While Outside Its Borders?
A former Russian diplomat leaves Russia over the war with a newborn son and ends up on twelve-hour factory shifts in Galilee. A smartwatch full of English words gets him into a doctoral program. Now he asks why Russians abroad still face their troubles alone, and proposes a way out.
Putin’s “Epic Abstention” vs. Trump’s “Epic Fury”
On March 11, 2026, Russia could have vetoed a UN resolution condemning Iran, its strategic partner, and chose to abstain. Meanwhile Russia nearly doubled its oil exports to Asia, filling the gap left by Iranian barrels. And Ukrainian crews were shooting down Iranian drones over the Gulf.
The UN Is on the Brink of Collapse. But Should We Worry?
In 2014, Sudanese soldiers raped over 220 women and girls in the Darfur village of Tabit, an hour's drive from UN peacekeepers. The largest peacekeeping mission in UN history, costing over $1.5 billion a year, said it had found no evidence. Soon after it left, Darfur faced its second genocide in twenty years.
The “Master of the East” and His Executioners, or The Peculiarities of Clan Warfare in Putin’s Foreign Ministry
In July 2025, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister for the Middle East and Africa, was abruptly dismissed. Shortly before, his closest aide had been sent to Lefortovo on charges of high treason. Now Bogdanov himself is reportedly a suspect, and his old department is being handed to outsiders.
The Myth of the Three Percent, or Why You Don’t Have to Be a Hero?
Many believe a dictatorship falls once 3.5% of the population takes to the streets. Even Erica Chenoweth, whose research gave rise to the figure, now calls protest size an unreliable predictor of success. The outcome is decided by whether the army and police agree to shoot, and in Russia they will.
A Network Superpower, or Unobvious Lessons from Somaliland’s Recognition for Global Politics
On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first UN member state to recognize Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991. The African Union and the Arab League condemned it, but no sanctions followed. Somaliland lies across the Gulf of Aden from the Houthis, and there is already talk of an Israeli base there.
Trump the Peacemaker: Many “Finished” Wars, One Result
In June 2025, Donald Trump hailed a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda, but the M23 rebels never signed it and kept fighting. His Gaza plan was approved without the Palestinians, and the truce between Thailand and Cambodia collapsed by December. What do these failures mean for a peace deal in Ukraine?
Africa 2025: Why Do Electoral Autocracies Hold Elections?
In October 2025, Tanzania's president won 97.66% of the vote after the main opposition party was barred from the election. That same month, 92-year-old Paul Biya won an eighth term in Cameroon, and 255 people were arrested in Côte d'Ivoire for disputing the count. Elections here no longer change power. They confirm it.
A Country in Hell: Why the War in Sudan Has Already Lost Its Purpose, but the Unbridled Violence Has Not
In October 2025, the Rapid Support Forces stormed El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still held by Sudan's army. Most of those killed were Masalit, Fur and other African peoples, and the UN has warned of signs of genocide. The UN Security Council has yet to adopt a single resolution condemning it.