QUICK TAKES // BY BEN FRANKELFour Comments on the Situation in Ukraine Published 9 March 2022 After two weeks of costly fighting and widespread destruction, it is clear that Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine with several flawed assumptions, which led to flawed operational approach. The response of the West has been unified and impressive

CHECHEN PLAYBOOKPutin May Use Chechen War Playbook in Ukraine By Ksenia Sokolyanskaya Published 9 March 2022 The Russian military campaign in Ukraine has been slower than expected, and Vladimir Putin may turn to the indiscriminate tactics of the wars in Chechnya that turned Chechen cities to rubble in the 1990s and early 2000s, human rights

NUCLEAR RISKSIs Putin Irrational? Nuclear Strategic Theory on How to Deter Potentially Irrational Opponents By Edward Geist Published 9 March 2022 Vladimir Putin’s astonishing lapse of judgment in invading Ukraine has fueled speculation that the Russian president may have taken leave of his senses. If this assessments is accurate, then the world faces a highly

ENDING THE WARUkraine: What Will End the War? Here’s What Research Says By Douglas B. Atkinson Published 9 March 2022 The fog of war can obscure our view of who is winning, who is losing, and how long all of this will last. While no one can provide definitive answers, academic research on war gives

RADIATION RISKSWhat Are the Risks at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant? By Ajit Niranjan Published 9 March 2022 Threat of a nuclear catastrophe is low. But experts fear for safety of workers who have been unable to rotate off shift. Communications with the site are down and electricity has reportedly been lost. In late February Russian troops invading Ukraine occupied the

NUCLEAR RISKSCan Ukraine Be Saved Without Triggering a Nuclear Response? By Brendan Nicholson Published 9 March 2022 Worries about the war in Ukraine are deepened by the prospect that if, against the odds, Russian forces are brought to the point of defeat, Putin will launch a ‘battlefield’ or ‘tactical’ nuclear weapon to destroy the forces

PROPAGANDARussia Shows the Limits of Propaganda By Will Duffield Published 9 March 2022 Beyond the outer fringes of Western politics, neither Russia’s contrived casus belli nor its wartime information operation have been taken seriously in Europe or America. Despite widespread concerns about the influence of English‐language Russian state media such as Russia Today and Sputnik, Russian

CHECHEN PLAYBOOKPutin May Use Chechen War Playbook in Ukraine By Ksenia Sokolyanskaya Published 9 March 2022 The Russian military campaign in Ukraine has been slower than expected, and Vladimir Putin may turn to the indiscriminate tactics of the wars in Chechnya that turned Chechen cities to rubble in the 1990s and early 2000s, human rights

AERIAL SUPPORTCalls Mount for West to Impose No-Fly Zone, Give Jets to Ukraine By Jamie Dettmer Published 9 March 2022 Poland surprised the United States by offering to donate its Soviet-era MiG-29 warplanes to Ukraine in exchange for advanced U.S. fighter jets to be transferred to Poland. The Polish government didn’t get the green light

ENDING THE WARUkraine: What Will End the War? Here’s What Research Says By Douglas B. Atkinson Published 9 March 2022 The fog of war can obscure our view of who is winning, who is losing, and how long all of this will last. While no one can provide definitive answers, academic research on war gives