The perils of autocracy
Poor policies, once adopted, are difficult to abandon, as the leaders of Russia and China are demonstrating.
ByVladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia and has been the country’s leader, with an interlude as prime minister, for more than 22 years. Putin was born in 1952, studied law at Leningrad State University and served for 15 years as a KGB officer before becoming a politician in 1991.
A flurry of alarm over Kosovo reveals underlying tensions
A dispute over car number plates between Serbia and Kosovo has been defused but not resolved.
By
How Vladimir Putin views the world
Russian authoritarianism has added an extra dimension to its suppression of free speech: a sinister playfulness with fact and opinion.
By
Russia counterattacks in its economic war with the West
Moscow is exploiting the only significant leverage it has over European economies: energy.
By
A fatal attraction
Thomas Mann, German identity and the romantic allure of Russia.
By
How the Kremlin is weaponising children for its propaganda
Russia uses emotional pictures of children to legitimise its war on Ukraine, and targets children themselves with disinformation.
By
How Putin’s aggression has nurtured Germany’s climate ambitions
A year ago Germany suffered terrible floods and the new government pledged climate action. It has not wavered.
By
Which countries could Putin try to ‘protect’ next?
The Kremlin has used the pretext of defending Russian speakers to threaten former Soviet states.
By
Georgia is now a hub for Russian opposition in exile
Now that open dissent in Russia is almost impossible, dissidents have fled to its neighbour – with uncertain consequence.
By
Why the Russian military should be very worried
As Ukraine targets ammunition depots, Putin’s forces may be approaching a crisis point.
By
Driving through Ukraine, I am confronted by the end of the world
Jews who were once bombed by the Nazis now face assault by the Russians. They are numb with grief.
By
Can Ukraine win the war with Russia?
As Russia takes the city of Lysychansk, Ukraine needs to develop momentum with its better, Western-sourced weapons.
By
The banality of Vladimir Putin
A new biography of the Russian president details the extraordinary rise of an unremarkable man who learned how to exercise…
By
Russia must lose this war
To ask the Ukrainians to stop fighting and negotiate is to invite a reinvasion as soon as Putin has rebuilt…
By
A new world order
How global politics is being reshaped by the war in Ukraine, the rise of China, resource scarcity and climate change.
By
How Putin prepared elite troops for Ukraine
A deadly crackdown on an uprising in Kazakhstan in January held lessons for the invasion of Ukraine the following month.
By
Nato unity faces scrutiny as defences to protect the Baltic states ramp up
The war in Ukraine will dominate this week’s summit in Madrid, including the admission of Finland and Sweden as members.
By
Paralysis in Moscow: why Putin persists with his strategy
The Russian president realises he must pick his fights carefully. Just as well, because the challenges keep coming.
By
Whatever Moscow’s military defeats in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is winning the energy war
Russia’s exports to Eurasia are so great, its resource power won’t be dented by sanctions imposed only by the West.
By
What is the Kaliningrad problem?
The Russian exclave is a point of pressure for the West but also has more to lose from Moscow’s manoeuvring.
By