Driving Forces Learn

Russia

WHAT'S NEXT?: Russia is becoming an independent geopolitical actor. Russia will seek to maintain the world's strategic balance of power. A resurgent Russia is likely to continue to stir up trouble across much of Central and East Europe and the Middle East. It remains to be seen whether a rapprochement is possible with the U.S. And, Russia's economy is expected to return to modest growth in late 2016 and 2017, further strengthening its hand.

[New] China, Russia, North Korea and Iran continue to pose significant cybersecurity threats to the U.S. because each is capable of launching disruptive attacks.
[New] China, Russia and Iran remain some of the most pressing national security threats, particularly related to cybersecurity, based on the annual threat assessment put together by the U.S.
[New] The Russian Intelligence Services - specifically the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, and the Foreign Intelligence Service - have executed some of the most dangerous and disruptive cyber attacks in recent history, including the SolarWinds cyber attack.
[New] Iranian escalatory actions threaten China's energy supplies and regional partners, just as destabilizing behavior from Russia might complicate its relations with African states.
[New] Outsourcing cyber attacks allows Russia to create plausible deniability and lower the risks and costs associated with controversial foreign information campaigns.
[New] Over the next 3 to 5 years, the U.S. military should expect Russia and China to continue to position themselves as alternatives to the United States - not only in the Middle East and North Africa but also in other regions.
[New] Australia represents an important contrast to Russia and Iran: It illustrates how allies can assist the United States in its fight against VEOs, allowing the U.S. military to shift resources away from counterterrorism missions with reduced risk.
[New] The alternative - bilateral cross-border support - will not sufficiently meet needs on the ground, will place even greater responsibility on Turkey, and will increase the prospect of Western confrontation with Russia and the Syrian regime.
[New] Russian President Vladimir Putin is massing his forces again near the Ukrainian border, and Kremlin-controlled media has escalated threats of war, while the United States and its European allies are concerned that another Kremlin military offensive against Ukraine may be imminent.
[New] China, Russia, Iran and North Korea would seek to challenge U.S. interests in different arenas and on multiple levels, and that transnational crime, cyber attacks and terrorist plots posed continued threats.
[New] President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to Russia's actions, such as cyber intrusions and election interference.
[New] If gas-fired plants become a larger part of China's electricity portfolio, maritime supply lines will become all the more sensitive for Beijing; a rival power could block seaborne gas shipments and thereby destabilize China's electric grid.
[New] China's gas imports used to come primarily through pipelines from Myanmar, Russia, and Central Asia, but to satisfy future demand, China will have to rely increasingly on seaborne imports of liquefied natural gas.
[New] Tensions between Russia and the West rose on Tuesday over fears Moscow is attempting to escalate its conflict with Ukraine over the Donbas region.
[New] Given the growing number of countries which the U.S. has threatened with economic aggression including China, Iran, Russia, Venezuela and others, the desire for an alternative payment system is undeniable.
[New] China, Russia, and other foreign states continued to covertly gather political, economic, and military information in Canada through targeted threat activities in support of their own state development goals.
[New] China posed a serious strategic threat, while the signals intelligence agency last November identified state-sponsored programs in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as cyber crime threats for the first time.
[New] We assess that Russia will remain the largest and most capable WMD rival to the United States for the foreseeable future as it expands and modernizes its nuclear weapons capabilities and increases the capabilities of its strategic and nonstrategic weapons.
[New] Russia probably will continue to expand its global military, intelligence, security, commercial, and energy footprint and build partnerships with US allies and adversaries alike - most notably Russia's growing strategic cooperation with China - to achieve its objectives.
[New] Russia will continue to develop its military, nuclear, space, cyber, and intelligence capabilities, while actively engaging abroad and leveraging its energy resources, to advance its agenda and undermine the United States.
[New] There are questions in Israel about U.S. intentions in shifting military priorities away from the Middle East in order to focus more intensively on China and Russia as more significant threats to U.S. security.
[New] Washington is citing claims that Russia and China are threatening its allies which provides a pretext for the United States to step up its own provocative actions.

Last updated: 17 April 2021

Russia

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