Authoritarianism is a persistent threat to democracy and the transatlantic alliance. The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine is only its latest effort to expand its influence, while it continues to spread disinformation abroad and crush dissent at home. The Chinese Communist Party has continued to seek influence across the transatlantic space through disinformation and strategic economic investment as it starts to flex newly found military power.
Authoritarian Threats
The Latest
Russia Is Far from Defeated
Despite Ukraine’s multiple successes in recent months, Moscow is increasing pressure on Ukraine’s front lines, cities, and logistics.
Russia’s Shadow War Surges Southward
The Kremlin’s on-again-off-again campaign to intimidate and disorientate European allies is picking up once more.
The West Must Confront China’s Biotech Offensive
Western engagement with Chinese biotech is accelerating. It’s dangerous.
No Drone Unturned: Ukraine’s Tech Scouts
Ukrainian and foreign fighters with experience of the front are scouring the globe to find the best technology to see off Moscow’s forces.
Read More
Comprehensive Report
Learn More
War Without End: Understanding Russia’s Shadow Warfare
To secure its grip on power, Russia adopts Soviet practices coupled with modern tactics of covert influence, violence, and manipulation.
Related Events
Discover the latest CEPA events on how the transatlantic alliance can respond to growing authoritarian threats.
January 17, 2023
Chinese Media Influence: Lessons Learned from Central and Eastern Europe
Event
China
Disinformation
January 12, 2023
Shaping a Transatlantic Response to Chinese Influence
Event
China
Disinformation
Regional Security
December 22, 2022
Melitopol: Life Under Russian Occupation
Event
Hybrid Threats
Regional Security
Russia
September 8, 2022
Russian Cyberwarfare: Unpacking the Kremlin’s Capabilities
Event
Cybersecurity
Regional Security
Russia
Event
Get the Latest
Sign up to receive regular emails and stay informed about CEPA's work.
Explore More
No Result Found
August 3, 2026
No Drone Unturned: Ukraine’s Tech Scouts
Ukrainian and foreign fighters with experience of the front are scouring the globe to find the best technology to see off Moscow’s forces.
August 3, 2026
Russia Is Far from Defeated
Despite Ukraine’s multiple successes in recent months, Moscow is increasing pressure on Ukraine’s front lines, cities, and logistics.
July 31, 2026
Russia’s Shadow War Surges Southward
The Kremlin’s on-again-off-again campaign to intimidate and disorientate European allies is picking up once more.
July 31, 2026
The West Must Confront China’s Biotech Offensive
Western engagement with Chinese biotech is accelerating. It’s dangerous.
July 28, 2026
Russian Mass Mobilization? A Non-Denial Denial
When Putin’s mouthpieces talk about something, there’s always a reason. Russians have renewed cause to worry.
July 28, 2026
No Road Back to Putin, the Shakespearean Villain
Ill-considered European statements about talks with Russia demonstrate confusion and lessons still unlearned.
July 27, 2026
Spoofing and Spillover: Russia Targets NATO
Russia is using electronic warfare as another technique in its shadow war against NATO.
July 24, 2026
Kremlin Throttles the Internet
The Kremlin’s incessant, restrictive attack on the Internet has apparently scored some successes in limiting the population’s usage.
July 23, 2026
Use Technology to Manage Risk from Chinese Drones
Building a supply chain independent from China is impractical. For now, leverage data, connectivity, and automation to reduce risk.
July 21, 2026
The False Choice Between Europe and Asia
Simple geographic binaries cannot address the threats the US faces, especially as its enemies pursue a broad alliance across the globe.
July 17, 2026
How to Pile the Pain on Putin
Ukraine’s audacious long-range strike campaign has exposed Russian vulnerabilities. Western allies can make these worse.
July 16, 2026
Russia’s Raddled Stock Market
Vladimir Putin hoped to double the size of the stock market. He has comprehensively failed, and there’s no obvious fix to be found.
July 15, 2026
The Kremlin Smiles on Russia’s Rock’n’Roll Renaissance
KINO, a rock band that provided the soundtrack to the fall of the Soviet empire, is back in fashion, and the Kremlin is happy to play along.
July 15, 2026
The Black Sea Needs a NATO Sentry
The alliance must ensure that the Black Sea doesn’t become a blind spot in its efforts to track and deter Russian aggression.
July 15, 2026
Ukraine Strikes Russia’s Central Nervous System
Only pain can convince Russia to reconsider its war of aggression. Ukraine may have found a way.
July 14, 2026
Russia’s Spies: Smear Recycling
Intelligence agency obsessions can seem eccentric from a distance, but they map the mind and the game theory of the Kremlin’s security elite.
July 13, 2026
Where the Air Raids Never End
Ukraine has learned to live under constant aerial terror. The danger is that the rest of the world mistakes adaptation for normality.
July 10, 2026
Kremlin Mouthpieces Raise the Specter of 1917
Putin’s propagandists are battling to bridge the gap between a supposedly victorious war against Ukraine and worsening fuel shortages.
July 10, 2026
Russia Must Remain the Pariah of World Sports
Russia has proved time and again it doesn’t believe in fair play, preferring to cheat at every turn. Vladimir Putin’s sportswashing cannot be allowed.
July 10, 2026
The End of Pretense: War Comes Home to Russians
It is hard to gauge public opinion where dissent is outlawed, but Russians’ growing concern about the war in Ukraine suggests discontent.
July 10, 2026
A Burning Russia Warms Ukrainian Hearts
It’s momentum that gives Ukrainians hope. Every attack on the infrastructure facilitating Russia’s war is greeted as a step forward.
July 8, 2026
Frontline Felons Have Changed the Way Putin Promotes His War
Fighting in Ukraine has become the only way out of jail for many criminals, but Moscow is using it to paint the war as a path to redemption.
July 7, 2026
Why Peace Would Destroy Putin
The Kremlin’s dependence on an alternative reality makes peace psychologically lethal for Russia’s leader.
July 7, 2026
Russia’s Losing Hand in the South Caucasus
The Kremlin is struggling to reassert its dominance in the South Caucasus as Azerbaijan and Armenia bury the hatchet.
July 7, 2026
Britain’s Dangerous Defense Illusion
For an island nation such as the UK, maritime power is not a luxury, it is essential. Defense spending plans fail to recognize that reality.
July 6, 2026
What’s at Stake at the NATO Summit
The politics and optics among leaders are sure to dominate the “hot takes” from the Summit, but the most important part of this Summit is the renewed focus on the private sector.
July 2, 2026
Time for Drone Traffic Control
Drones are dangerous. France and Canada offer models to keep them safe.
July 2, 2026
Russia Forces Sick Ukrainians Into Fratricide
Compelling Ukrainians from occupied territories to fight against their compatriots is illegal, but Russia has gone one step further.
July 2, 2026
Running on Empty: Russia’s Fuel Crisis
Ukrainian drone attacks are now causing severe problems for the Kremlin, and it has no quick or easy answers.
July 2, 2026
Ireland and the Trade in Death
Four years after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the role of business in neutral Ireland is coming under scrutiny.
June 30, 2026
Putin Orders Russian Women to Retreat
Vladimir Putin likes to portray his war on Ukraine as a continuation of World War II, but not for Russian women.
June 30, 2026
CEPA Podcast: What is Next for Putin’s Russia?
Can Putin’s regime hold?
June 30, 2026
Death and the Kremlin
The sudden death of Sergey Ivanov, one of Putin’s closest allies and his former KGB colleague, has revived discussion about the post-Putin Kremlin.
June 30, 2026
Europe Should Buy Ukrainian Flamingos
Any idea that Tomahawk missiles can be deployed at scale across Europe are now dead. But there is an alternative.
June 26, 2026
The Wind and Solar Surprise: Renewables Keep Winning
The political mood across the US and Europe suggests that renewables are in retreat. It’s false.
June 26, 2026
Armenia’s New Pro-Russian Opposition Leader
As Armenia cemented its shift to the West in June’s election, a new Kremlin-aligned opposition emerged, giving Moscow a way to build influence and sow division.
June 25, 2026
An Ecosystem of Truth: Russian Independent Media in Exile
Russian independent media is a strategic asset in the struggle against the Russian dictatorship and its influence abroad.
June 25, 2026
Sowing the Seeds of Renewal: Russian Higher Education in Exile
Exiled Russian academics are building independent educational initiatives that preserve scholarship and train a new generation of students for a post-authoritarian future.
June 25, 2026
Dissent Across Borders: Russian Human Rights Organizations in Exile
Despite the Kremlin’s greatest efforts to silence Russian human rights organizations, they have adapted and continue to generate impact.
June 25, 2026
Russian Civil Society in Exile
Despite severe repression, Russian civil society groups remain a critical bastion for democracy.
June 24, 2026
Ukraine: Founding Member No. 1 of Europe’s New Defense Alliance
Any new European defense system must have the continent’s most battle-hardened military at its heart. Step forward, Ukraine.
June 24, 2026
Data Center Energy Challenge: Can the US and Europe Deliver?
Artificial intelligence ambitions are colliding not just with the limits of semiconductors or algorithms. They face electricity and environmental bottlenecks.
June 24, 2026
Merkel, Ukraine, and the Long Tail of Finlandization
The legacy of Finlandization extends far beyond most people’s understanding and can be useful in combating Russia.
June 24, 2026
Putin Is Losing the Fight to Keep Russians Offline
Millions of Russians are bypassing Vladimir Putin’s attempts to block access to the internet, and his regime is struggling to keep up.
June 22, 2026
American Conservatives Rally for Ukraine
Europeans may not know it, but leading Republicans are continuing to lobby for Ukraine and make the argument that Russia is an enemy.
June 22, 2026
Literal Bridge Building: Turkey and Armenia
Amid tensions with Russia, Armenia is pursuing a full rapprochement with Turkey.
June 18, 2026
Silence and Fear: Life Under Russian Occupation
Evidence and stories from people living under Russian occupation in Ukraine tell of fear, intimidation, and silence.
June 18, 2026
Behind the Lines: How Deep is China’s Engagement in Occupied Ukraine?
Is China expanding its presence in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia? Or is it just another of the Kremlin’s propaganda games?
June 17, 2026
Why Do Seized Russian Tankers Sail Away?
French, British, Swedish, and Finnish boarding parties have taken control of shadow fleet vessels, with most freed shortly afterwards.
June 16, 2026
The Siege of Crimea
Many observers had written off Crimea and assumed Kyiv would have to surrender the peninsula in any peace deal with Moscow. But the tide is turning.
June 16, 2026
You’ve No Idea How Much Russia Hates Britain
Keir Starmer’s refusal to adequately fund defense is opening ever-greater opportunities for Kremlin exploitation. Its campaign is already underway.
June 15, 2026
Putin’s Kulturkampf
The Russian despotism has done everything possible to shut down information sharing, but culture retains a power beyond its reach.
June 15, 2026
Surrender Crimea and Reward Genocide
The Kremlin’s claim that Crimea is Russian rests on a 240-year project to erase the peninsula’s indigenous Crimean Tatar population. The world can’t turn away.
June 11, 2026
West Needs ‘Escalation Ladder’ for Putin’s Shadow War
NATO’s fragmented responses to Russia’s “accidental” border incursions are enabling Moscow’s shadow war.
June 11, 2026
Putin and Xi — Friends But Not Equals
Coordination of the relationship between China and Russia has grown, but it lacks balance and clear boundaries.
June 10, 2026
Europe and India: A Marriage of Convenience
The biggest of the so-called middle powers are seeking greater cooperation to hedge against war and uncertainty.
June 10, 2026
Russia-China Military Ties: Behind the Window Dressing
It’s important to distinguish between a genuine military alliance and the picture-perfect imagery of authoritarian propaganda.
June 9, 2026
Armenia Votes to Shun Russia
Pashinyan’s victory leaves the Kremlin with the difficult choice of confrontation or something more pragmatic.
June 8, 2026
When Russia Loses
The war’s end will mark the start of a race to secure the peace and make the continent the author of its future.
June 4, 2026
Europe’s Renewables Loosen Energy Stranglehold
Wind and solar power are best positioned to end the continent’s dependence on both Russian and American supplies.
June 4, 2026
Russia’s Economy: Bent Out of Shape
The economy’s two main tracks are moving in different directions.
June 4, 2026
Putin’s Deepening Problems Are Europe’s Opportunity
The Russian despot’s choices are narrowing as his war results in stalemate and impoverishment. Europe should make the most of it.
June 4, 2026
The China-Russia Meta-Threat: The Architecture of Authoritarian Power
Beijing and Moscow are steadily developing a growing partnership, despite obvious friction and structural asymmetries.
June 3, 2026
The Renaissance of US Interest in the South Caucasus
The US supports Armenia’s government ahead of key elections, fearing Pashinyan’s defeat by pro-Russian forces would upend peace efforts.
June 3, 2026
Russia’s Threadbare Air Defenses
For a country that has built its foreign policy on the notion of encirclement, Russia is surprisingly bad at defending itself.
June 2, 2026
The Threat of a Europe-China Trade War
With the US summit behind it, China is squaring up for the next defining trade battle. It’s very confident that it will win.
June 2, 2026
Who Will Govern AI?
Closing the gap between those who build AI and those who govern it is now a central challenge of the AI age.
June 1, 2026
Russia’s Influence Game: Church, State, and Espionage
The Kremlin’s efforts to show it’s an accepted member of the global community require enormous work by every arm of the regime.
May 31, 2026
Ukraine: Luring the Talented to Come Home
Ukraine’s future depends not only on winning the war against Russia, but convincing its young people to come home.
May 29, 2026
Compute: AI Bubble or Bottleneck?
The artificial intelligence boom must overcome supply shortages — in both the US and China.
May 29, 2026
Letter to London: New PM Must Fix Shadow Defenses
The UK is likely to have a new leader later this year. Here’s some day one advice from former British government official, Andy Pryce.
May 28, 2026
Reality Check: Breaking Free From China’s Drone Ecosystem is Harder Than You Think
China controls the global supply of drones. It will be challenging to cut this dependency.
May 28, 2026
The MATCH Act and Multilateral Cooperation
The MATCH Act would ask allies to follow the US on semiconductor equipment export restrictions. Unfortunately, key parts of this effort are divorced from reality.
May 27, 2026
China and the Hungarian Water Crisis
The days when Chinese industry received a free pass from the Budapest government are over. A water shortage has seen to that.
May 22, 2026
Russian Influence Drains Away in the South Caucasus
Armenia is building closer relations with the EU, underlining Russia’s diminishing influence in the South Caucasus.
May 22, 2026
The British and US Sanctions That Quietly Aren’t
US and UK sanctions relief aimed at easing domestic consumer pressures also transfer billions into Putin’s war chest, at Ukraine’s expense.
May 21, 2026
Georgian Dream’s Failed Pivot
How Georgia’s billionaire Ivanishvili misread Moscow, and why Washington shouldn’t reward his overtures.
May 21, 2026
What If Putin Can’t End the War?
The Kremlin maintains the threat of escalation to perpetuate the myth of Western aggression and justify its repression of the Russian people.
May 21, 2026
The Tank Is Dead? Oh No, it Isn’t
Tanks are being dismissed by some as the relics of an earlier age. But they’re still needed, and Europe lacks the numbers.
May 20, 2026
Russia Settles for Stagnation
The Kremlin’s own forecasters now admit what they long denied: the war economy has run out of steam.
May 20, 2026
A Defense Production Plan for Europe
More than a trillion dollars has been committed to allied defense spending by 2035. That must be used to boost industrial capacity, with transatlantic cooperation at its heart.
May 19, 2026
Ask Not for Whom the Tolls Apply: Payments for Shipping
As Iran tries to rake in cash from the Strait of Hormuz, might others be tempted to follow?
May 19, 2026
‘One More Day’: Ukraine Is Edging the War of Attrition
As Ukraine grinds out the hard yards, consistent Western support will determine the war’s outcome.
May 19, 2026
The Putin-Xi ‘Shared Consciousness’ Requires a Robust Western Response
The debate about the China-Russia relationship is over. It’s clear the two are locked into an intimate and dangerous quest to change the world in ways inimical to the West.
May 15, 2026
Russia’s Immortal Regiment: Marching Backwards
The dead of World War II are now conscripts for the Putin’s regime’s battle to own 20th century history.
May 15, 2026
Putin’s Contradictions Have a Poetic Precedent
The writings of a 19th Century Russian poet can help explain the shifting sands of Vladimir Putin’s relationship with the West.
May 13, 2026
A Global G2? Xi-Trump Summit Spurs Europe-Japan Jitters
Talks between the US and China will be anxiously observed by trading powers far from the summit venue.
May 13, 2026
What to Watch at the US-China Summit
President Trump and Chairman Xi both believe they hold the stronger hand.
May 13, 2026
It’s Time the West Marshaled its Economic Battalions
The days when military strategy and economic policy were largely separated have passed. They must be made to walk in lockstep.
May 12, 2026
Moscow Marches to Kyiv’s Tune
The Kremlin’s imagined path to victory in Ukraine is taking some very strange detours, all of which reflect badly on Vladimir Putin.
May 12, 2026
Sanctions Press Briefing
CEPA experts discuss sanctions against Russia and what needs to be done to ensure their effectiveness, noting enforcement and adaptation.
May 11, 2026
US-China Summit Press Briefing
CEPA experts discuss expectations and issues in the lead up to the US-China Summit between presidents Trump and Xi in Beijing.
May 11, 2026
Russian Foreboding as Putin Marks Victory Day
Russians were told to expect a defining speech from Putin, but got only the same old messages and a sense that the Kremlin has lost direction.