Jeffrey Mankoff

Apr 29, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Jeffrey Mankoff

While the ambivalence among Middle Eastern states about the war in Ukraine stems from multiple sources, Russian influence is a significant, if underappreciated, factor. Several of these countries see Moscow as an external balancer and hedge against the possibility of a broader US pullback from the region. At the same time, Russia maintains significant coercive capabilities thanks to its military presence in Syria and burgeoning strategic partnership with Iran.

Mar 6, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | Max Bergmann |Michael Kimmage |Jeffrey Mankoff |Maria Snegovaya

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Washington to rethink its fundamental assumptions about Moscow. Every U.S. president from Bill Clintonto Joe Biden had sought some degree of engagement with Russia. As late as 2021, Biden expressed hope that Russia and the United States could arrive at “a stable, predictable relationship.” But Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine has radically altered that assessment. It is now clear that the two countries will remain antagonists for years to come.

Aug 24, 2023 | nbr.org | Jeffrey Mankoff

In this essay from NBR’s project Mapping China’s Strategic Space, Jeffrey Mankoff argues that Russian attempts to maintain dominion over its neighbors rest on a perception of two-tiered sovereignty: while insisting on absolute sovereignty for itself (including the right to determine which foreign entities are allowed to operate on its soil), Russia considers the sovereignty of the states comprising its “near abroad” limited and conditional.

Aug 22, 2023 | foreignaffairs.com | Brook Manville |Josiah Ober |G. John Ikenberry |Jeffrey Mankoff

In This Review In This Review The Civic Bargain: How Democracy SurvivesManville and Ober urge defenders of liberal democracy to take the long view. The book provides fascinating portraits of four great breakthroughs in citizen self-rule: classical Athens, republican Rome, parliamentary Great Britain, and the United States. Each was a world-historical experiment in building collective self-government; politics, that is, without a boss.

Aug 21, 2023 | foreignpolicy.com | Jeffrey Mankoff

While Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine dominates headlines and diplomatic conversations around the world, a quieter Kremlin effort to consolidate effective hegemony over neighboring Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova continues apace.