Ukraine and the Problem of Restoring Maneuver in Contemporary War

This paper primarily aims to offer a new framework for Ukrainian forces and their Western backers to break the current positional warfare and restore maneuver to the battlefield.

Russia Poses Long-Term Threats to Moldova’s European Integration Beyond the October Elections

Moldova's European integration may progress in the October 2024 presidential election and referendum, but it will likely remain a battleground state into the 2030s as EU membership talks continue.

Israel is Defeating Hamas, But Destroying Hamas Will Require a Post-War Vision

Hamas can indeed be militarily defeated and even militarily destroyed, but the IDF will need a defined political end state in order to set the conditions necessary to destroy the group as a whole.

Interactive Map: Hundreds of Known Russian Military Objects are in Range of ATACMS

ISW provides this list and interactive map of military and paramilitary targets to demonstrate how U.S. restrictions on Ukraine's use of ATACMS limit its ability to strike key military infrastructure in Russia.

Putin is Vulnerable

Russia has vulnerabilities that the West has simply not been exploiting. US incrementalism has helped the Kremlin offset and mask its weaknesses.

Latest from ISW

Russia Poses Long-Term Threats to Moldova’s European Integration Beyond the October Elections

Oct 14, 2024 - ISW Press

Moldova stands to advance its path towards European integration in the upcoming October 2024 presidential election and referendum, but Moldova will likely remain a battleground state into the 2030s as Moldova's European Union (EU) membership negotiations continue. The possible reelection of pro-Western Moldovan President Maia Sandu and passing of the pro-EU referendum in October 2024 will not set Moldova's EU path in stone. The Kremlin has recently been trying to sabotage Moldova’s EU accession and destabilize Moldovan democracy and will continue these efforts in the coming decade.

Iran Update, October 13, 2024

Oct 13, 2024 - ISW Press

The United States deployed a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system and US military personnel to operate the system to Israel on October 13 to bolster Israeli air defenses following the April 13 and October 1 Iranian attacks on Israel. The THAAD system is a “ground-based interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles.”

Iran Update, October 12, 2024

Oct 12, 2024 - ISW Press

Lebanese Hezbollah is falsely presenting Israeli ground operations as a failure in order to degrade Israeli will and underscore Hezbollah’s own resilience in the face of massive Hezbollah losses since mid-September. Hezbollah claimed that Israeli forces have failed to take control of any tactically significant hills or ridgelines in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah asserted that Israeli forces have only advanced to the outskirts of Lebanese towns and are using propaganda images to misrepresent military successes. Geolocated footage and commercially available satellite imagery show Israeli forces are operating in the center of southern Lebanese towns, however.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 12, 2024

Oct 12, 2024 - ISW Press

Russian forces are reportedly relying on illicitly obtained Starlink terminals to improve combat coordination and the effectiveness of their tactical reconnaissance strike complex (TRSC) in Ukraine as part of an overarching effort to reach technological parity with Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian military personnel operating in Donetsk Oblast told the Washington Post in an article published on October 12 that Starlink terminals have increasingly appeared at Russian frontline positions and that the illicitly obtained technology is helping Russian forces fix persisting issues with combat coordination and communications while improving the precision of Russian tactical fires.