From Chechnya to Ukraine, from Moscow’s weakened diplomacy to the rise of open-source intelligence, Christian Caryl sees a Russian system far more fragile than it appears.
In this five-part conversation with Jacob Heilbrunn, the Foreign Policy Magazine columnist explains how Putin’s vulnerabilities are multiplying: Ramzan Kadyrov’s uncertain future, Ukraine’s drone warfare deep inside Russia, Moscow’s dependence on China, Europe’s energy emancipation, and the growing power of a pluralistic Ukrainian democracy on Russia’s border.
Behind the image of control, Caryl describes a chaotic, corrupt and volatile system.
Authoritarian regimes can endure.
But they can also crack suddenly.
Christian Caryl Decodes Putin’s Fragile Empire
by
June 2026
Recent Articles
Nuclear Deterrence Needs Time, Not Just a Human in the Loop
Governments increasingly promise that artificial intelligence will never be allowed to decide whether nuclear weapons are used. The principle is important. A machine should not authorize an action capable of killing millions and transforming the international system. Yet preserving a human “in the loop” does not necessarily preserve meaningful human control. Long before a national […]
Hamas’s billion-dollar financial network
The September 2026 elimination by the IDF of two Gaza-based money changers, Jabr Moqbel, head of the Moqbel currency-exchange network, and, days later, Shadi Abu Hasira, a central money changer in Hamas’s military wing who ran the Geneva exchange network, highlights an important reality: Hamas’s financial system is under sustained pressure, but it remains functional, […]
A World Under Tension – Filseth: “The US Is Using Iran’s Own Weapon Design Against It”
From Iran to Taiwan, from Ukraine to China, Trevor Filseth, Defense and National Security Managing Editor of The National Interest, examines a world under growing military pressure. He warns of depleted US stockpiles, the limits of costly high-tech weapons, China’s strategic options, and a striking irony: Washington is now using Iran’s own weapon design against […]
