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3 weeks ago | 
cepa.org | Alison Mutler |Anda Bologa |Maciej Bukowski |Francis Harris
Georgia approaches the final act. On March 27, the parliamentary leader of the ruling party, Georgian Dream, Mamuka Mdinaradze, announced the imminent tabling of legislation, referred to as the “successor parties law,” aimed at banning opposition groups that the ruling party deems “hostile”.
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2 months ago | 
cepa.org | Kateryna Odarchenko |Radu Tudor |Alison Mutler |Francis Harris
If Ukrainian popular sentiment is anything to go by, then the Trump administration’s demands, echoing those of the Kremlin, run into a wall of opposition. According to the latest data, only 15% of Ukrainians support elections during the war, while 69% favor President Zelenskyy remaining in office until the end of martial law. That’s not to say that trust in the government is overwhelming. It isn’t.
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2 months ago | 
cepa.org | Radu Tudor |Alison Mutler |Francis Harris |Kate Connolly
Vice President JD Vance fired a scathing broadside against Romania’s constitutional court on February 14 for ruling the election invalid, claiming the decision, after an ultranationalist pro-Kremlin candidate won the first round of voting, was based on “flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.” “You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections, we certainly do” he told the Munich...
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2 months ago | 
cepa.org | Alison Mutler |Francis Harris |Kate Connolly
Vice President JD Vance used a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Valentine’s Day to attack “totalitarianism” in Europe. He spoke on the day of love, but there was no affection at all for Romania’s liberal democratic parties. Vance singled out Romania’s cancelled presidential election as he accused Ukraine’s allies in the European Union (EU) of being the “enemy within” and afraid of their own people.
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2 months ago | 
cepa.org | Francis Harris |Fiona Alexander |Adam Kovacevich
2025 will be a year of dramatic political change in Central Europe. Poland will elect a new president and the pro-European Civic Platform has a chance to control both the presidency and the Sejm; parliamentary elections in Germany in February may produce a grand (but unhappy) coalition of Christian and Social Democrats; Austria may well appoint a prime minister from the extremist FPÖ; and the pro-Kremlin Slovak government may be forced into early parliamentary elections.
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2 months ago | 
cepa.org | Francis Harris |Edward Lucas |Mykyta Vorobiov |Michael Peck
Since the October parliamentary elections, Georgia has been seeing near-permanent protests against what the opposition describes as a “stolen election.” It is demanding a rerun. The ruling Georgian Dream Party, which has been in power for 12 years with the support of traditionalist elements of the population, says the results are unchangeable. International criticism has not subsided either.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
cepa.org | Chris Stephen |Walter C. Clemens |David Kagan |Francis Harris
Vladimir Putin’s search for new military bases in the Mediterranean has ended in Libya, a country as factional and complicated as Syria, from which Russian forces have effectively been expelled. Without ports and airports to supply it, Russia’s imperial mission in Africa may become as ill-fated as its failed intervention in Syria. The Kremlin has installed mercenaries in a growing number of mineral-rich countries deep within the African continent. But supplying those units is far from easy.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
cepa.org | David Kagan |Francis Harris |Joshua Stein |Christopher Cytera
China and Russia are aligned but not allied, we’re often told. Or, as one leading analyst put it, the brown bear and the panda are cycling side by side, but whether to the same destination is not yet clear. And of course, it’s true we cannot see the future or where this journey will lead. But we can make an assessment, and frankly, that is far from reassuring. If you doubt it, look at the Germany-Japan axis of the mid-20th century, which offers some troubling parallels.
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Jan 7, 2025 | cepa.org | David Kagan |Francis Harris |Joshua Stein |Christopher Cytera
China and Russia are aligned but not allied, we’re often told. Or, as one leading analyst put it, the brown bear and the panda are cycling side by side, but whether to the same destination is not yet clear. And of course, it’s true we cannot see the future or where this journey will lead. But we can make an assessment, and frankly, that is far from reassuring. If you doubt it, look at the Germany-Japan axis of the mid-20th century, which offers some troubling parallels.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
cepa.org | Matthew Eitel |David Kagan |Francis Harris |Joshua Stein
It’s the controversial capstone of an aggressive chips campaign. As the Biden administration prepares to leave office, it plans to announce its most expansive export controls crackdown against China. Industry and lawmakers are split. Supporters say the moves will keep the US ahead in artificial intelligence. Opponents argue the plan will upend the global AI market — with dire unintended consequences.
