United States

Iran

Russia

Economics

Military & Security

Politics

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that includes cooperation on trade, defense, culture and science, though specific details were not publicized, AP reported on Jan. 17.

Russia, Iran: Russia and Iran Sign Comprehensive Treaty in Moscow

Burkina Faso

Mali

Niger

Togo

Togolese Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey refused to rule out Togo joining the Alliance of Sahel States, which Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso formed in light of their upcoming departure from the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, Jeune Afrique reported on Jan. 16.

West Africa: Togo Considers Joining the Alliance of Sahel States

Europe

Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for the European Union to lift sanctions against Russia, asserting that the incoming U.S. Trump administration would usher in a "new era" of sanctions-free relations with Russia, though he acknowledged such a shift would not come immediately, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 17, citing Orban's remarks to state radio.

Hungary: Orban Calls for End to EU Sanctions on Russia

Ukraine

Energy

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's advisers are developing two sanctions strategies to facilitate an agreement resolving the Russia-Ukraine war, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 16. 

U.S., Russia: Trump's Advisors Prepare Sanctions Strategy for Negotiations With Russia 

United Kingdom

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, where the two leaders signed a "100 Year Partnership" agreement on military, technology and energy cooperation, Reuters reported on Jan. 16. 

Ukraine, U.K.: Starmer Meets With Zelensky, Underscores Support for Ukraine

Moldova

After returning from a trip to Moscow, the president of Moldova's separatist-controlled breakaway region of Transdniestria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, told reporters he had negotiated a resumption of gas supplies with Russian energy officials, Reuters reported on Jan. 15.

Moldova: Transdniestrian Leader Says Russia Will Restore Gas Supplies Soon

The Ukrainian Armed Forces launched more than 200 drones and other munitions against military facilities and infrastructure deep inside Russia, making it the largest Ukrainian air attack in terms of the number of drones since the beginning of the war, Agentstvo reported Jan. 14.

Russia, Ukraine: Ukraine Conducts Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Russian Infrastructure, Military Facilities

Incoming U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz laid out several points of the incoming Trump administration's approach to the Russia-Ukraine war, most notably a request for Ukraine to lower its mobilization age from the current 25 to 18, ABC News reported on Jan. 12.

Ukraine: U.S. National Security Adviser Pushes Ukraine To Lower Mobilization Age

Assessments

Israel

Syria

China

Cyber

Nation-states' growing use of hacktivist personas to obfuscate responsibility will increasingly enable them to attack targets they would otherwise avoid and spread propaganda.

Hacktivism Offers Plausible Deniability for State-Backed Cyber Actors

Columns

On Geopolitics

Germany

A compressor gas station of the Yamal–Europe pipeline is seen on Feb. 19, 2022, in Wloclawek, Poland. 

The expiration of the Russia-Ukraine transit deal underscores Europe's ongoing efforts to sever its reliance on Russian resources, with far-reaching implications for energy markets and geopolitics in the region and beyond. 

The End of Russian Gas via Ukraine Cements Europe's New Energy Landscape

Angola

Cote d'Ivoire

Ghana

Kenya

Nigeria

Argentina

Brazil

Canada

Ecuador

Mexico

Algeria

Iraq

Jordan

Kuwait

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Tunisia

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Yemen

Taiwan

Belarus

Pakistan

World map on a dark digital background representing global communication and global finances.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025 highlights high-impact, low-probability risks and trends from the annual forecast presented in more extreme terms.

RANE's Top 10 Risks for 2025

Snapshots

This picture taken on Sept. 2, 2014, shows equipment from the border release and compressor station of the gas pipeline from Ukraine in Veke Kapusany, eastern Slovakia. 

Russia is hoping to weaken Moldova's pro-European government by inducing a destabilizing energy crisis in the winter. But if this plan fails, it could further undermine Russian influence in the country.

To Keep Its Hold on Moldova, Russia Gambles on a Gas Cut-Off

Palestinian Territories

North Korea

As 2025 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five events as measured by geopolitical impact.

Environment, Science & Technology

Global Elections

Science & Technology

2024: A Geopolitical Review

Bolivia

Poland

A natural gas distribution hub is seen near Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 16, 2024.

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

The Weekly Rundown: Poland Assumes the EU Presidency, Russia-Ukraine Gas Transit Deal Expires

India

The Geopolitics of Water

Water utilities are uniquely vulnerable to cyberattacks due to frequent financial and security limitations, exposing water-stressed countries to threats from hacktivists and foreign adversaries.

 The Geopolitics of Water: Cyberattacks' Impact on Water Stress in the U.S. and Beyond

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

South Korea

A sign reading ''leader of insurgents'' on a photo of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's face is held up during a protest calling for Yoon's ouster in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 8, 2024. 

The Weekly Rundown: Putin's Annual Press Conference, Another Impeachment Vote in South Korea

Rebel fighters celebrate in the streets of Homs, Syria, in the early hours of Dec. 8, 2024, after seizing control of the city.

Syria, the geopolitical proving ground for virtually every major regional power, may be hobbled and damaged after 13 years of civil war. But it still gets a vote in its destiny. 

Syria Sets Out Toward a New and Uncertain Future

Russian troops gather around their military vehicles in northeast Syria on Nov. 1, 2019. 

The collapse of Assad's government in Syria is a blow to the Kremlin's influence in the Middle East and its credibility as a security partner, which will further drive Russia to secure a resounding victory in Ukraine.

What Assad's Fall Means for Russia

Lebanon

A military vehicle burns after it was hit by Syrian regime forces Dec. 7 in Syria's Hama governorate. After the regime's fall, competing rebel factions will vie to create a provisional government, a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power.

After the regime's fall, competing rebel factions will vie to create a provisional government, a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power.

Syrian Rebels Pushing to Damascus, Regime Facing Imminent Collapse

France

Protesters call for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 6, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: An Impeachment Vote in South Korea, Syria's Government Wavers

<p>Despite being the largest country in the world by area, the Russian Federation occupies territory that is indefensible and unforgiving. The core of Russia, running from the Volga grain belts up through Moscow proper to the Baltic Sea, lacks any natural features to fortify it from attack. This is why the country has traditionally anchored its territory to major geographic barriers far from its core in an attempt to keep foreign powers distant. As a result, Russia has inevitably had to reach east across the frozen tundra of Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, southeast to the Tien Shen mountains of Central Asia, south to the Caucasus Mountains bordering Iran and Turkey, and finally west to the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe. But, there is one major hole in this geographic expanse: The Northern European plane. The Northern European plane is a gap between the Carpathian Mountains and the Baltic sea which, at its narrowest, is 480 kilometers (300 miles) across. This narrow point, referred to as the Polish funnel, lies just West of Warsaw and reaches down Krakow in the south. Russia has faced three major attackers along this axis; Napoleon, Wilhelm II, and Hitler. Most recently, the expansion of NATO and the European Union into Central and Eastern Europe has raised Russian hackles. Moscow would much prefer to control the lands between Russia and the Polish funnel &mdash; pushing as far west as possible &mdash; knowing full well that once an attacker has passed that narrow chokepoint, it is an open march to Russia&#39;s heartland. For this reason, Moscow seeks to occupy or influence its borderlands, or at the very least, maintain their neutrality. Looking beyond its indefensible borders and largely hollow interior, Russia boasts a diverse population of 144,463,450 people and a powerful military. These armed forces, backed by an autocratic political system, help protect the country&#39;s unwieldy land mass. Russia&#39;s economy is inherently fragile and highly dependent on commodity exports ranging from grain to energy. The country is traditionally at its most powerful when a strong, heavy-handed leader is in charge, such as current Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite this, though, the Kremlin must continually deal with internal political divisions, rising ethnic tensions and regional dissidence.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

Russia, Iran: Russia and Iran Sign Comprehensive Treaty in Moscow

West Africa: Togo Considers Joining the Alliance of Sahel States

Hungary: Orban Calls for End to EU Sanctions on Russia

U.S., Russia: Trump's Advisors Prepare Sanctions Strategy for Negotiations With Russia

Ukraine, U.K.: Starmer Meets With Zelensky, Underscores Support for Ukraine

Moldova: Transdniestrian Leader Says Russia Will Restore Gas Supplies Soon

Russia, Ukraine: Ukraine Conducts Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Russian Infrastructure, Military Facilities

Ukraine: U.S. National Security Adviser Pushes Ukraine To Lower Mobilization Age

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