A researcher with the “Nicolae Iorga” History Institute of the Romanian Academy, specializing in the history of the Soviet Union and European communism. A graduate of Bucharest and Moscow universities, took his PhD at University of Bucharest. He authored over 80 expert articles in scientific periodicals. He sits on the scientific boards of a number of academic magazines. Cosmin Popa is also a member of the Romania-Russia Joint Committee of Historians and the Romania-Russia Joint Committee for the study of problems deriving from the history of bilateral relations, including Romania’s Treasure. He published the volumes Birth of an Empire (2002), Between the Quest for Empire and the Strategic Alliance, USSR and Central and Eastern Europe (2012), Ceaușescu’s Intellectual Elite, the Academy of Social and Political Sciences (2018), Elena Ceaușescu or the biography of a family dictatorship (2021).
President Trump's peace plan, which was communicated more in terms of a "diktat," has little to do with Ukraine. In fact, in an attempt to save Putin and give Trumpism a fresh start, the strange American president seems willing to sacrifice Ukraine and, with it, European security.
(Pro-)Russian propaganda seeks to convince the world that Russia is unstoppable. However, the parliamentary election in Moldova showed that, when facing smart opposition, Moscow cannot win the hybrid war — not even against a country with infinitely smaller resources. The lessons Moldova offers may prove valuable for both NATO and Romania.
There are at least two types of causes. The first is related to Romania's structural deficiencies, making institutions act more or less the same, regardless of the source of the danger, be it internal or external. The second, the easiest to deal with, stems from the specific nature of the relationship with Russia, the country from which the greatest threat to Romanian democracy comes today.
Russia's attempt to install a president in Bucharest is a small part of the scenario prepared for Romania. In the long term, Moscow aims to culturally "reprogram" Romanians - through disinformation - so that they abandon the West and choose the "Russian world".
A good relationship with Russia would help the US isolate China. But Putin's decision to continue the war in Ukraine could convince Washington that Europe remains its most important partner.
China is the main threat to the US, which would benefit from the weakening of the Beijing-Moscow axis. A Trump-Putin deal may entail, however, sacrificing Ukraine and problems for the EU.
Real or not, the Wagner Group rebellion has shown that, although it desperately fashions itself as a new type of dictatorship, Putin’s regime is just another political construct lacking any real foundation.
The presidential “election” in Russia is the pinnacle of a long series of crimes, abuses and diversions designed to turn Putin's dictatorship into a totalitarian system in the truest sense of the word. Launched as an iron-fisted regime meant to speed up the country's structural modernization, Putin's dictatorship ultimately led to Russia's complete break with Europe and its firm anchoring in the Asian political model.