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The abortive Wagner Group insurrection could have significant implications for Russia's ability to react to Ukraine's counter-offensive.

AbstractRelations between the US and Russia during the George W. Bush era were marked by a dramatic shift from cooperation to confrontation. Russia's unequivocal support for the US-led War on Terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 gave way to a sustained rise in anti-Western sentiment in the Russian political narrative. This article analyses US-Russia relations during the presidency of George W. Bush through the lens of great power relations and status. It explores the distinctive aspects of the Bush administration's foreign policy approach and how they impacted the US-Russia relationship: notably increasing US unilateralism and its apparent rejection of multilateralism, liberal interventionism and the pursuit of democracy promotion around the world. These continue to shape the Russian view of the US, its intentions and attitude towards international order.

Georgia has significant hydropower potential and there are plans to construct a number of new hydropower plants (HPPs). However, concerns have been raised about the impact of these new HPPs on local communities, as well as damage to pristine mountain environments and the biodiversity of the Caucasus. Additionally, Georgia is situated in a seismically unstable region, meaning it is prone to frequent tremors and earthquakes. There have been a number of protests about proposed projects, notably clashes between police and protestors in April 2019 over the construction of an HPP in the Pankisi Gorge. Thus, the example and experience of Georgia raises questions about the push towards renewables, in particular the need to ensure project sustainability. This article will assess the contribution that hydropower makes to Georgia's energy mix, future projects and what lessons can be drawn from the Georgian experience about the demands of balancing the country's electricity needs against environmental and social costs.

The perceived threat posed to Russia from so-called colored revolutions–popular uprisings attributed by Moscow to malign sponsorship by external forces–has become a central theme in Russian security discourse. This article analyses how colored revolutions came to be characterized as a specific threat to national security and how they continue to shape Russian thinking about the changing character of conflict. It explores Russian perceptions of the threat from colored revolutions, using the concept of strategic culture as a framework to analyze these perceptions through an analysis of the Russian military theoretical literature and strategic documents. The article establishes that concerns about non-military means of destabilization reflect continuities in Russian strategic assumptions about adversaries and how they seek to achieve their national objectives. It also reveals the perpetuation of specific narratives about the country's vulnerability to foreign interference.

Georgia is an important element in the development of oil and gas reserves in the wider Caspian region, providing a key transport corridor that enables the shipping of hydrocarbons from the landlocked Caspian Sea region to international markets without the need to transit Russian territory. The commercialisation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus (SCP) pipelines has created substantial revenues and strengthened the economic and political links among Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the West. Georgia will also be a crucial component of the next major pipeline project, the EU's Southern Corridor. This article explores the influence of the development of the pipeline and other transit infrastructure on Georgia's foreign policy, as the country seeks to diversify its economic and political links.