Post-Soviet Russia has gradually asserted itself as an imperial and anti-Western power, representing a threat to the independence of its Eurasian neighbors, as well as to the post-Cold War international order. The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is the culmination of this behavior, with both regional and global consequences. Now cut off and isolated from the Euro-Atlantic space, Russia is seeking to deepen its partnership with China and to turn towards non-Western worlds, especially in Asia and Africa. In the Eurasian space, historically dominated by Russia, the war amplifies centrifugal tendencies. The speed and depth of the transformations underway require constant and precise monitoring of the internal and external policies of the countries in the area.
Founded in 2005 at Ifri, the Russia/Eurasia Center produces research and organizes debates on Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Its objective is to understand and anticipate the evolution of this complex and rapidly changing region in order to enrich the public debate in France and Europe, and to assist in strategic, political and economic decision-making. Over time, the Russia/Eurasia Center has developed a network of contacts from institutions and civil society in the countries of the Eurasian space, and has established multiple partnerships with research institutes in Europe and around the world.
The digital collection Russia.Eurasia.Visions (formerly Russia.Nei.Visions), published by the Center, has become a reference point, with articles published in three languages (French, English and Russian). Relying on a network of leading experts and promising young researchers, it offers original analyses intended for public and private decision-makers, researchers, as well as for a wider public interested in the area.
Director of Ifri's Russia / Eurasia Center
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Research Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Project Officer, Russia / Eurasia Center
Associate Research Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Associate Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center and Geopolitics of Technologies Program
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Associate Fellow, Russia / Eurasia Center
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Russia’s assault on Ukraine not only changed the contours of world geopolitics; it deeply affected the fabric of Russian society, provoking a massive exodus of self-made and independent-minded people from the country.
Maia Sandu, who was elected President of the Republic of Moldova by direct universal suffrage in November 2020, won a large parliamentary majority in the snap parliamentary elections held in July 2021. Her plan for the internal transformation of Moldova is closely linked to her...
The traditional and high-intensity war that has occurred in Ukraine since Russia decided to invade raises a key issue: did post-soviet Russian strategic thought really prepare Russia for waging this war?
2022 saw the climax so far of the weaponization of energy. Following its geopolitical demise, Russia has undertaken its own gas amputation, moving from a super energy power status to a diminished role with uncertain prospects and only hard options left.
In addition to being a leading gas and oil power, Russia also possesses vast geological resources that place it among the world’s leading mining countries.
The chaotic retreat of the United States from Afghanistan in August 2021 might lead to an expectation of a lasting loss of influence in central Asia.
When Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin announced a “no limits friendship” at their February 2022 summit, the message was that Beijing and Moscow had reached a new peak in relations.
The overwhelming majority of the Russian population, having been fed Kremlin propaganda for years, approves of the war in Ukraine.
While Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a decoupling with the West on a scale not seen since the worst years of the Cold War, Russia has not been isolated from the non-Western world and has even reinvested its diplomatic energy toward the Global South.
China-Russia cooperation in space has been increasing for the past two decades. This cooperation accelerated after the Crimea crisis in 2014 and culminated with the announcement in 2021 of the joint construction of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).<...>
One year after the beginning of the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, the second France-Ukraine Forum will host political officials, experts, academics, and association members from both countries to discuss three main issues: military aspects and scenarios for ending the war;...
Nine months after the start of the Russian aggression, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, discusses the situation in Ukraine and the country's prospects.
Over six months since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what was to be a three days blitzoperation has turned into an ugly war of attrition with many strategic and tactical surprises. Putin is now doubt now counting on Ukraine and the West to bow first while Russia’s resilience will...
Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February provoked a war of attrition that is still ongoing. In the meantime, the conflict has fueled intertwined economic, humanitarian, energy and food crises. This discussion aims to discern the conflict's immediate and future effects.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has shaken the foundations of Western foreign policy and the multilateral rules-based order. Institutions built to preserve this order – like NATO, the G7, and the EU – have had to rethink their threat assessments and postures. France, Germany, Italy, and the UK have...
More than a month after the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, will speak on the current military situation and the prospects for...
Since 2014, Ukraine's territorial integrity and security have been challenged by Russia's annexation of Crimea and by the conflict in Donbas. Military maneuvers in spring and October 2021 have raised the threat of open armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Kyiv, on the other hand,...
After four years of a Trump presidency marked by “Russiagate”, the election of Joe Biden at the end of 2020 marks a new turning point in Russian-American relations. While the change in the American administration allowed the New START treaty on strategic arms reduction to be saved in...
Global power competition, growing unpredictability, mounting military pressures, hybrid threats and the persistence of terrorism... Europe is now facing a deterioration of its strategic environment.
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A "Les Jeudis de l'Ifri" videoconférence around Tatiana KASTOUEVA-JEAN,...
For this Russian army specialist, at least part of the armed forces rallying behind the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, cannot be ruled out.
According to the researcher, the failure of the Russian army in Ukraine is the result of the implementation of a theory that emerged in the 2000s, which places a central focus on 'psychological-informational' warfare rather than armed combat.
There is no sign the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow will rein in President Vladimir Putin in his war in Ukraine, even if it again highlights a lopsided relationship where Russia is clearly the junior partner, analysts say.
The Kremlin wanted Russia's invasion of Ukraine to yield a lightning victory, but 12 months on the war is dragging into a stalemate with neither side achieving military breakthrough nor prepared to agree a settlement based on the status quo.
Does the war in Ukraine change the prospect of European Union enlargement? What is the possibility and future of Europe's common foreign and security policy? Does russian aggression unite or unify Europe and what is the role of the European political community? What is Russia's ultimate...
Kyiv expects new recruits to appear within two months but Moscow struggles with training and logistical obstacles.
Following the last Ukrainian victories over the Russian Army in the Kharkiv oblast, Russian administration currently faces controversies. As a matter of fact, many question the degree of intensity Russian general staff has decided, avoiding for now general mobilization. According to Dimitri...
As elections approach Sunday, the far-right candidate is linked to the Russian president by a web of financial ties and a history of support that has hardly dimmed despite the war in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the port city of Mariupol, located on the Sea of Azov, has been of great strategic interest to Moscow. Vladimir Putin has made it a symbolic objective.
Renault had for months been plotting to export a newfangled version of the Lada to the reste of the world. although realising that ambition remained some way off, it would have capped the revival of a brand arguably more synonymous with the Soviet Union than any other and which Renault first...
