Moldova Heads West
On the morning of October 22, 2025, less than a month after a critical parliamentary election, a petite, almost fragile-looking brunette-haired woman, 53 years old, approached the podium in the Moldovan parliament… As she stepped forward, a white-clad military band struck a chord and a voice introduced the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu.
Civic Myth, Imperial Reality: Putin’s Political Nationalism
In Russia, now in the fourth year of its invasion of Ukraine, the public sense of “we” is shifting from an ethnic-religious basis to a civic and emotional one. Though many expected blood-and-soil nationalism to prevail, it has not. Being Russian is increasingly defined by citizenship, attachment to the state, and a declared feeling of Russianness.
Learning from Ukraine: Lessons of Resistance
In this acceptance speech for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Karl Schlögel argues that the familiar vocabulary of war and peace has failed us, and that Europe must relearn judgement, responsibility, and courage.
George Kennan’s Legacy in 2025
George Kennan’s “X Article” and “Long Telegram” mark the dawn of the Cold War, but he a historical figure and not much more? George Kennan’s legacy is still current and demands sustained consideration at present.
The Arts of War
So many in the world of foreign affairs and military expertise miscalculated how the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine would play out. Once again, as has happened so many times throughout history, a smaller but spunky nation has held off far more powerful marauders.
Russia: The West’s Prodigal Sibling
In May 1905, when the Russian fleet was nearly destroyed by Japan’s navy at Tsushima, the decisive battle of the Russo-Japanese War, the global perception was unmistakable. For the first time since the Middle Ages, a non-European nation had defeated a European power in a major war. At the time, Russia was seen unambiguously as part of the West, a European power both in appearance and ambition.
Kharkiv’s Memorial of Glory
The Memorial of Glory lies in the pine forest that edges northern Kharkiv. Built in the 1970s over the mass graves of partisans and civilians executed by the Nazis, it was designed as a Soviet shrine to victory. Like much of Kharkiv, a city of utopian architecture and bombed-out kindergartens, it feels suspended outside ordinary time.
Student Life in Ukraine
By 2022, the war had been going on for half of my life, sometimes in the background; but this time it would be constant. The invasion brought the war louder and closer. It entered every Ukrainian home and life, including mine.