Vladimir Putin convened his Council of Economic Advisors for the first time in two years this week, with his former Finance Minister on board. But it was only for a “brainstorming session”, the Kremlin said, suggesting that serious reforms were not about to be unveiled.

As in virtually all items that have become issues in the culture war, protagonists on both sides are absolutely convinced of the rightness of their ideology and the wickedness of anyone who doubts this.

It wasn’t exactly a prisoner swap, as most media are reporting. Did Putin get something else, or is he just trying to improve his image abroad during challenging times?

David Blankenhorn talks with with William F. Winter, who has spent a lifetime in Mississippi politics.

Russia’s PM speaks to disgruntled Crimean pensioners.

The latest wave of the far-Right surge has not quite yet broken through the levee that the mainstream European parties have built up. But the levee is looking awful weak.

The experiment in leftwing rule in Brazil began reasonably well under Lula, but it appears to be ending in tears.

What energizes the Trump phenomenon is the power of “NO!”: people who think the train is about to head off a cliff want to pull the emergency cord that stops the train even if they don’t know what happens next.

Cynical Russian activism, the rise of ISIS, and the disintegration of Syria should be leading Turkey to work more closely with its Western partners in Europe and NATO. Yet Erdogan seems bent on keeping Turkey isolated at a time of rising threats.

One of the Russian President’s closest friends, sanctioned by the West, just won another huge no-bid contract to build part of a gas pipeline to China.