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Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

This is great news!

The Kennan Institute @kennaninstitute.bsky.social · 21h

The Kennan Institute returns as an independent, non-partisan institute entering a new era of scholarship and statecraft.

🎥 Watch members of our community reflect on the past, present and future of research and policy analysis on Russia, Ukraine, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
#KennanInstitute

November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My thoughts for @kyivpost.com on why the new government in Damascus has allowed Russia to keep its bases in Syria:
www.kyivpost.com/opinion/63284

Opinion: Russia Keeps Its Syrian Bases: What’s in It for Damascus?

Seldom has a major power been able to keep a foothold in country where the government it propped up got overthrown. By staying in Syria, Moscow is an exception to the rule.

www.kyivpost.com

November 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My thoughts on former Iranian foreign minister Zarif's view that Russia does not want Iran to have normal relations with the rest of the world:

www.iranintl.com/en/202510177...

Zarif is right, Moscow wants Tehran locked in confrontation

While relations between Moscow and Tehran have generally been good, ties between former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the seemingly perpetual Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov...

www.iranintl.com

October 17, 2025 at 9:26 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

I spoke with Stewart Willy of Times (of London) Radio about how Trump's sanctions are unlikely to induce Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine:
youtu.be/SG7Ez07WO4U?...

Trump sanctions won’t stop Putin unless militarily action is used | Mark N. Katz

YouTube video by Times Radio

youtu.be

July 31, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My latest article for The National Interest:
nationalinterest.org/feature/if-p...

If Putin Were Smart, He Would Accept Trump’s Ceasefire Deal

Putin could strategically benefit from ending the Ukraine war by shifting US focus toward China, reducing dependence on Beijing, and regaining leverage—but he is too proud to do it.

nationalinterest.org

July 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Long interview with Kyiv-based journalist Liudmila Nemirya, whose work I admire greatly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTqq...

When will Russia and China turn on each other? Alliances, distrust, mistakes, scenarios? – Mark Katz

YouTube video by NEMYRIALIVE

www.youtube.com

July 13, 2025 at 6:31 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Honored that my 2005 article, "Iran and America: Is Rapprochement Finally Possible?" was included in the just published special issue of Middle East Policy, published by @mideastpolicy.bsky.social, on the Israel-Iran War.

Middle East Policy Council @mideastpolicy.bsky.social · Jun 24

All articles in Middle East Policy special issue The Israel-Iran War are free to read without a subscription. Featuring analyses by @thomasjuneau.bsky.social ‬@tparsi.bsky.social ‪@stelhami.bsky.social‬ @marknkatz.bsky.social and many others.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

The Israel-Iran War: Middle East Policy

Click on the title to browse this issue

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

June 24, 2025 at 10:48 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My reflections on what Putin did not do to forestall the U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities: www.kyivpost.com/opinion/55053

Opinion: A Path Not Taken: Russia’s Reaction to the US Strike on Iran

How the complex realities of geo-political decision-making can mark the difference between an imagined scenario and a real-world crisis.

www.kyivpost.com

June 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

I argue in The National Interest that, "As more Global South governments that cooperate with the West join BRICS, it will be harder for Russia to orchestrate an anti-Western consensus within an expanded BRICS."
nationalinterest.org/feature/why-...

Why Russia Is Still a Little Skeptical About BRICS Expansion

While Putin sees BRICS expansion as a tool to counter Western influence, internal disagreements and differing group goals limit its effectiveness as a unified anti-Western alliance.

nationalinterest.org

June 18, 2025 at 9:07 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Dr Mark N. Katz – Russia, the Middle East and the US: Shifting Regional Politics and a Changing Global Order
open.substack.com/pub/duforumo...

Dr Mark N. Katz – Russia, the Middle East and the US: Shifting Regional Politics and a Changing Global Order

Dr Mark N.

open.substack.com

June 18, 2025 at 1:35 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

In this article, I discuss how various theories of revolution as well as analogies with previous revolutions can provide suggestive, even if not definitive, answers about whether and to what extent the Trump phenomenon can be considered a revolution.

www.e-ir.info/2025/06/08/c...

Can the Trump Phenomenon Be Considered Revolutionary?

While Trump has succeeded in uniting disparate groups with differing interests, it is not clear whether anyone else can do so.

www.e-ir.info

June 8, 2025 at 2:49 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Pleased to have contributed a paper on "Russia, the Black Sea, and the Middle East" to the Transatlantic Leadership Network project on "Russian Intentions and Actions in the Black Sea":
www.transatlantic.org/wp-content/u...

www.transatlantic.org

May 12, 2025 at 3:42 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Quoted in the Kyiv Post by Jason Jay Smart in an article comparing Cold War Kremlinology with present day Putinology: www.kyivpost.com/analysis/52380

Analysis: Kremlinology Is Dead. Putinology Rules. Inside Russia’s New Power Game

What the 2025 Moscow Victory Day Parade reveals about Russia’s shifting global alliances – and why the age of Kremlinology is over.

www.kyivpost.com

May 10, 2025 at 3:41 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My latest for the Kyiv Post:
www.kyivpost.com/opinion/50648

Opinion: Diverging European and US Foreign Policy Interests Aren’t Just about Ukraine

From the start of the Trump administration, there has been a clash in the transatlantic view of foreign policy, particularly noticeable is how best to resolve Russia’s war on Ukraine.

www.kyivpost.com

April 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My latest op-ed for The Hill:
thehill.com/opinion/5176...

thehill.com

March 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My thoughts on the dangers of making an agreement about Ukraine without Ukraine:

www.kyivpost.com/opinion/47276

Opinion: Will Donald Trump Be Another Neville Chamberlain?

The parallels between the 1938 Munich Agreement’s appeasement of Nazi Germany and Donald Trump’s Munich Security Conference accommodation of Putin should not be ignored.

www.kyivpost.com

February 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My thoughts on what Putin said about Syria during his December 19 press conference:

www.kyivpost.com/opinion/44314

Opinion: Can Putin Really Keep Russia’s Bases in Syria?

Neither the US nor Israel should help Putin out by providing the new Syrian government with a motive to allow him to keep his bases in Syria.

www.kyivpost.com

December 22, 2024 at 4:10 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My latest for the Atlantic Council:
www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menaso...

Will Russia be able to keep its bases in Syria?

It would be in the United States’ and Israel’s interests not to give the new Syrian government reasons to let Russia keep those bases.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

December 18, 2024 at 6:19 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Not So Bad After All: How US Foreign Policy Could Navigate a Multipolar World www.e-ir.info/2024/12/15/n...

Not So Bad After All: How US Foreign Policy Could Navigate a Multipolar World

Containing rivals via buck-passing may be less costly for the U.S. than continuing to respond to each and every threat as if in a unipolar world.

www.e-ir.info

December 15, 2024 at 4:08 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Pleased that my comments were included in an Atlantic Council "Experts React" roundup on the implications of the fall of Assad: www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...

Experts react: Rebels have toppled the Assad regime. What’s next for Syria, the Middle East, and the world?

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been ousted as opposition forces quickly took Damascus. Atlantic Council experts share their insights.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

December 8, 2024 at 4:29 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

My thoughts on what's at stake for Putin in Syria for the Kyiv Post: www.kyivpost.com/opinion/43408

Opinion: Putin’s Stakes in Syria Couldn’t be Higher

The current setbacks faced by Russian forces in the face of rebel advances in Syria could have an impact that spreads far beyond that long-beleaguered Middle Eastern country.

www.kyivpost.com

December 7, 2024 at 12:56 PM

Mark N. Katz

@marknkatz.bsky.social

Query: Since "Türkiye" has replaced "Turkey" as the correct spelling for the country, does this mean that "Türkiyish" should now be used as an adjective instead of "Turkish"? That would seem to be consistent in terms of spelling.

November 26, 2024 at 3:26 PM