With the Syrian conflict right on its borders, and Russia and Iran increasingly shaping the region’s politics, Turkey is becoming beholden to NATO’s enemies.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, following their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 7, 2018.
Reuters/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool
Gordon Adams, American University School of International Service
The US was once the dominant force in the Middle East. That old order has disappeared. Now the new powers are Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia – and the US needs a new policy for the region.
In the corridors of power: Russian president Vladimir Putin with Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller.
Kremlin
Armed and backed by some of the world’s largest known oil and gas reserves, Gazprom would be more powerful than US mercenaries such as Blackwater, and also closely linked to the Kremlin.
The U.S. Capitol is seen here in this January 2018 photo. Three top Russian intelligence officials met with their American counterparts in D.C. in January. Why?
(AP Photo)
In January, three top Russian intelligence officials met with their peers in Washington, D.C. What was their goal amid the Robert Mueller investigation? An expert on Russia speculates.
Undated handout photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov.
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire/PA Images
The Skripal case shows how Russian intelligence services have the confidence to carry out shoddy operations, seemingly unconcerned about whether or not they will be discovered.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a mass in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Russia, on Jan. 7, 2018.
Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
During the Cold War, American evangelicals smuggled Bibles and other Christian literature to the Soviet Union and other communist countries. They still see Russia as a partner on evangelical values.
The outrage over Trump’s comments at the joint press conference meant an opportunity for meaningful debate about policy was lost.
AAP/EPA/Anatoly Maltsev
The extensive media coverage of the Helsinki meeting was almost universally critical of Trump, which overshadowed the chance to ask more meaningful questions about how the world deals with Russia.
Donald Trump admires Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Putin’s track record over his career reveals a serial liar, and presents damning evidence of complicity in multiple critics’ violent deaths.
In this July 2018 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are seen at a news conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Vladimir Putin may well have something on Donald Trump. But their close ties could also be about oil prices and Trump’s efforts to get Russia to ends it alliance with China.
Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Russian hackers are coupling old propaganda strategies with new technologies to attack and exploit not just computers and stored data, but how people think.
U.S. President Donald Trump, seen on the South Lawn of the White House on July 27, 2018, is eroding American diplomacy with his penchant for what’s known as hard power over soft power.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Cybersecurity experts in the US knew about Russian intelligence agencies’ activities, but may not have had any idea how comprehensive and integrated they were – until now.
Interpreter Marina Gross at work in Helsinki.
EPA/Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin
With international trade facing its greatest threat in decades, this club of China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa and India will have much to say about it.
Is your faith in democracy waning?
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
When Putin looks in the mirror, what does he see? Not an aggressor as so many are depicting him in the West, but rather a defender of a wounded and misunderstood nation.