<p>Eurasia is the world&rsquo;s most expansive region. It connects the East to the West, forming a land bridge that borders Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South Asia. Forming the borders of this massive tract of land are the Northern European Plain, the Carpathian Mountains, the Southern Caucasus Mountains, the Tien Shan Mountains and Siberia. At the heart of Eurasia is Russia, a country that throughout history has tried, to varying degrees of success, to extend its influence to Eurasia&rsquo;s farthest reaches &mdash; a strategy meant to insulate it from outside powers. But this strategy necessarily creates conflict throughout Russia&rsquo;s borderlands, putting Eurasia a near constant state of instability.</p>

Eurasia connects the East to the West, forming a land bridge that borders Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South Asia. 

Eurasia

Armenia

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Russia

Moldova

The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Cyber

The Ukraine Conflict

The Politics of Pipelines

The New Silk Road

Commodities: A Cautionary Tale

A Crude Recovery

The Second Space Race

Echoes of the Cold War

Russia's Internal Struggle

The Fight for Russia’s Borderlands

Moscow Looks to the East

Instability in Central Asia

Snapshots

Europe

Lithuania

Latvia

Poland

A Latvian border guard patrols along the fence at the Belarusian border near Krivanda, eastern Latvia, on Aug. 8, 2023.

Military & Security

Migration pressure orchestrated by Belarus is shifting toward Latvia and driving the adoption of sophisticated tunnel-smuggling tactics that will test EU resilience.

Belarus's Hybrid Migration Tactics Shift Pressure to Latvia

The parliament building is seen through a European flag during a demonstration against a judicial reform pushed by lawmakers of the ruling Law and Justice party on Jan. 23, 2020, in Warsaw, Poland. 

Politics

Social Issues

Poland's right-wing opposition parties remain well-positioned to win a majority in the 2027 general election, though growing fragmentation among these parties will hinder postelection coalition talks, potentially leading to a government that includes far-right elements.

How Poland's Right-Wing Split Alters the 2027 Election Landscape

Assessments

United States

Greenland

China

Denmark

The Geopolitics of Natural Resources

Economics

Energy

Greenland's large deposits of critical minerals make the island one of the few potential alternatives to Chinese supply chains, but material constraints and diplomatic disputes will obstruct large-scale production.

The West's Quest To Exploit Greenland's Critical Minerals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (center) chats with U.S. senators before heading to a closed-door meeting at the U.S. Capitol on July 28, 2026. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

If enacted, the proposed bill would give Trump broad new authority to impose tariffs on major Russian oil buyers, but selective enforcement means it would unlikely compel Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

New U.S. Sanctions Bill Unlikely To Impact Russia's Oil Exports or War Strategy

Ethiopia

South Africa

Brazil

Egypt

Iran

Saudi Arabia

India

(From left to right) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend a plenary session at the BRICS summit in Kazan on Oct. 24, 2024.

The bloc's push to develop an independent payment system for trade will not immediately undermine the U.S. dollar's global dominance, though it could reduce the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

The Implications of an Independent BRICS Payment System

Peru

Israel

United Kingdom

A couple rides past Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran on July 24.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A Likely U.S. Escalation in Iran, Zelensky Travels to Washington

U.S.-Iran Relations

Ukrainian servicemen maintain a 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region on May 27 in Pokrovsk, Ukraine.

With grinding ground offensives yielding minimal gains at a severe human cost, Moscow is likely to escalate devastating aerial strikes designed to cripple critical infrastructure and force Kyiv into concessions.


What the Fall of Kostiantynivka Would Mean for the Ukraine War 

People gather for a second consecutive day of protests in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 17, 2026, following the controversial dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Zelensky's potentially imminent decision to dismiss the army chief under mounting public pressure would weaken his authority, while prolonged turmoil could further strain Ukraine's war effort.

Defense Minister's Ouster Plunges Ukraine Into Biggest Wartime Political Crisis Yet

Albania

Montenegro

A man checks the flags of EU countries in 2004. 

Recent negotiations saw Montenegro and Albania pushed into advanced legislative alignment while Brussels expanded accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.


The Progress, Prospects and Risks of EU Enlargement

Cars stand in line for gasoline at a Lukoil gas station on July 8, 2026, outside of Moscow, Russia.

Russia will retain the ability to produce and export most of its oil, but sustained Ukrainian strikes will erode its refining capacity, exacerbate domestic fuel shortages and raise the risk of deeper production cuts.

Ukrainian Strikes Deepen Russia's Fuel Refining Crisis

Chinese shipping company Sea Legend will launch the first regular container shipping service through the Arctic the week of Aug. 10, connecting China's port of Ningbo through the Northern Sea Route (north of Russia) to the United Kingdom's Felixstowe via weekly liner service during the summer months of low ice, roughly July or August through October, the Financial Times reported on Aug. 10. 

China: World's First Scheduled Arctic Container Service Commences

Syria

Turkey

Russia will steadily hand over its two military bases in Syria -- its only military bases in the Middle East -- to the interim Syrian government by November, with the bases turned into joint Russo-Syrian training facilities, Syria's foreign ministry announced on Aug. 9.


Syria, Russia: Russia Slowly Winds Down Military Bases in Syria

New U.S. intelligence assessments concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO between fall 2026 and 2029 through actions ranging from cyberattacks and covert operations to a limited land incursion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 6.

Russia, NATO: U.S. Intel Warns Putin Could Test NATO's Resolve

Sub-Saharan Africa

Americas

Middle East and North Africa

Asia-Pacific

South Asia

Environment, Science & Technology

Researchers at Stanford and the Arc Institute used artificial intelligence to create 16 novel viral genomes, Science reported on Aug. 6.

Global: Scientists Use AI To Create 16 Novel Viruses

An explosive device planted in the car of Russian drone manufacturer Vladimir Tkachuk seriously wounded him and killed his driver near Yekaterinburg, marking the second attack on a Russian drone developer within a week, Reuters reported on Aug. 5.

Russia, Ukraine: Targeted Attacks Will Keep Russian War Officials at Risk

Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said the country's military intelligence uncovered indications that Russia was weighing unconventional kinetic attacks on Baltic critical infrastructure using Ukrainian-made drones to maintain plausible deniability, LRT reported Aug. 6.

Europe, Russia: Lithuania Warns of Possible Russian False-Flag Drone Attacks in the Baltics

Ukraine received only one-third as many allied air-defense missiles during the first half of 2026 as it did during the same period in 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a Russian attack involving 24 ballistic missiles, four Zircon cruise missiles and 115 drones killed at least 17 people, Reuters reported on Aug. 5. 

Ukraine, Russia: Patriot Shortage Will Give Moscow Winter Leverage

Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an Aug. 3 interview with Politico that Kyiv hoped refinery strikes and Western sanctions would force Russia to end the war this fall, but he warned that Moscow would otherwise resume large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy, water and sewage infrastructure.

Ukraine, Russia: Energy Deficit Will Deepen Ukraine's Winter Vulnerability

Eurasia

SITUATION REPORTS

China: World's First Scheduled Arctic Container Service Commences

Syria, Russia: Russia Slowly Winds Down Military Bases in Syria

Russia, NATO: U.S. Intel Warns Putin Could Test NATO's Resolve

Global: Scientists Use AI To Create 16 Novel Viruses

Russia, Ukraine: Targeted Attacks Will Keep Russian War Officials at Risk

Europe, Russia: Lithuania Warns of Possible Russian False-Flag Drone Attacks in the Baltics

Ukraine, Russia: Patriot Shortage Will Give Moscow Winter Leverage

Ukraine, Russia: Energy Deficit Will Deepen Ukraine's Winter Vulnerability

Forecasts

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