Foreign Policy Research Institute

Home / Articles / Understanding Latvia’s Parliamentary Elections The last three months have been a flurry of activity in Latvia as the country entered its pre-election season in June. The 14 parties running for parliament have sought to curry favor among the electorate — passing out pamphlets on street corners, aggressively posting on social media, and plastering the faces of their leading candidates on the side of buildings.

Home / Articles / House of GUGI: A Historical Imagery Analysis of Olenya Guba Introduction In April, the UK Minister of Defence, John Healey, gave a speech calling out Russian military activities near sensitive underwater cables and pipelines in and around British waters. He said that, in partnership with Norway and other allies, British forces tracked an Akula-class attack submarine, two special mission submarines, and the research/spy ship Yantar operating near critical undersea infrastructure.

The much-anticipated summit meeting in Washington between American President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping masked any tensions that the two biggest powers of the world have. Both leaders were eager to portray confidence to their respective domestic audiences as much as to the world at large, seeking to project their presence as global statesmen. From a diplomatic perspective, both the United States and China could claim victory.

This whole Greenland saga has elicited all sorts of commentary. Let’s step back. The United States has had a presence on Greenland and permissive basing rules for decades. Will anything actually change with this updated agreement?

About the Event On October 3, Latvia holds parliamentary elections for the 15th time. The election follows the resignation of Prime Minister Evika Siliņa in May amid security concerns and features 14 parties seeking seats in the country’s Saeima. In this presentation, Baltic Sea Fellow Dr. Indra Ekmanis and Janis Chakars break down the election process, the candidates, and what is at stake. FPRI is pleased to present this program in partnership with the Latvian Society of Philadelphia.

Home / Articles / The War of Endurance: Russia, Ukraine, and the Struggle Behind the Front Lines The Russo-Ukrainian War has evolved into a total war, with both side employing political, economic, and military means to erode the other’s will to fight. Because of the military stalemate in southeastern Ukraine since late 2023, both sides view forcing societies, rather than militaries, to surrender as a possible path to victory.

UK sanctions against Israeli settlements reflect an emerging “Burnham doctrine” that seeks to balance British interests and values, and build new coalitions of middle powers while keeping the United States on board Burnham’s pragmatic transatlanticism differs from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s truth-telling about Washington The Burnham doctrine faces real tensions, such as funding defense without gutting social spending and building coalitions that don’t trigger conflict with...

Over the past year, China has been quietly shifting its stance within the international system. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is casting itself as an unlikely guardian of the post–World War II international order, uncomfortable with the rhetorical trappings of global leadership but increasingly willing to shoulder its financial burdens in the shadow of American unreliability.

Russia sees opportunity in the Arctic. For centuries, ever-present sea ice has made the region hostile to trade or military exploitation. But as the ice melts, that reality is changing. Russia plans to capitalize on the economic benefit of arctic trade, is increasing its military presence in the region, and is leveraging its dominance to conduct disruptive gray zone activity against US allies. But the retreat of arctic ice may not work entirely in Russia’s favor.

Donald Trump is famous for his love of gold. His agreement with Saudi Arabia, however, has undermined the so-called “Gold Standard” for nuclear nonproliferation: the American insistence, for more than a decade, that countries that reach agreements with Washington for nuclear cooperation forgo domestic uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing. While these technologies are important parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, they are also critical for the development of nuclear weapons.