Heavy Metal Diplomacy: Russia’s Political Use of its Military in Europe since 2014
How the Kremlin uses its military as an instrument of coercive diplomacy
Experts & Staff
Mark Galeotti
ECFR Alumni · Former Visiting Fellow
Areas of expertise
Russian security, Russian politics, Organised and transnational crime, Intelligence
Languages
English, Italian, Russian, French
Biography
Dr Mark Galeotti used to work for ECFR as Visiting Fellow until 2018.
Can governance Trump guns? European security after the US elections
Rather than trying to duplicate NATO, the EU should instead focus on 'hybrid defence'
Aleppo is paying for Russia’s imagined global threat
Russia's brutality in Aleppo reflects Moscow’s perspective on warfighting, its military capabilities, and its sense of threat.
‘New KGB’ plans betray Putin’s anxiety
If true, this would be a serious shift in policy, reflecting a dawning awareness on Putin’s part that his old strategies for governing Russia are looking increasingly ineffective.
Putin’s incredible shrinking circle
At a time when Russia is heading into renewed turbulence, he appears determined to ensure he has none around him willing to express uncomfortable truths
Vladimir and Nicholas: Putinism enters a new historic phase
Vladimir is not Nicholas, and the 2010s are not the 1850s. Nonetheless, if Putinism is entering its “Nicolaevian” phase, it raises some worrying implications for the future
What the Olympic doping scandal says about the decline of Putin’s Russia
Drug taking in sport can be seen as a metaphor for the country’s ills: denial, bluster and blame providing a recipe for isolation and stagnation
Trump wants America to stop being the world’s policeman — and start being its rent-a-cop
Trump’s businessman’s approach to foreign policy promises stability to no one
European security concerns bring Russian mafia back onto agenda
For Moscow, Russian-based criminal networks provide an unconventional asset in the geopolitical struggle with the West
Why the departure of Putin’s chief bodyguard actually matters
Today’s news risks making this system even more dysfunctional, politicised, untethered from reality, consumed by factionalism – and thus more dangerous for both Putin and Europe
Publications
The secret battlefield: How the EU can help Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine protect against Russian subversion
The EU should offer Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine a new intelligence and security compact to help strengthen their security against Russia
Do the Western Balkans face a coming Russian storm?
Introduction “Serbia and the rest of the Balkans are a pawn in a great game of powers between Russia, the EU, and the US.”…
Controlling Chaos: How Russia manages its political war in Europe
Insofar as there is a command-and-control node, it is within the Presidential Administration
Crimintern: How the Kremlin uses Russia’s criminal networks in Europe
European states and institutions have to consider the challenges posed by Russian-based organised crime, and adopt measures to combat it
Heavy Metal Diplomacy: Russia’s Political Use of its Military in Europe since 2014
How the Kremlin uses its military as an instrument of coercive diplomacy
Putin’s hydra: Inside Russia’s intelligence services
Far from being an all-powerful “spookocracy” that controls the Kremlin, Russia’s intelligence services are internally divided
Articles
Britain’s Strategic Defence and Security Review and deterring Russia
Russia is being weaponised to justify big-ticket buys for the UK military, yet there’s little talk of what Moscow thinks matters
Donbas war will be won by force of example, not arms
Those who argue that reform must take second place to military victory are in effect cheerleading for the kleptocrats
G7 shirking its responsibilities on Russia
If sanctions are considered not to be working, then the answer is not to lift them, but to strengthen them
The truth about Russia’s defence budget
Contrary to recent claims, Russia's defence budget has not been slashed for 2017.
A Trump-Putin summit? Bring it on.
The long-distance bromance may founder when its principals actually get to meet.
Russia’s heavy metal diplomacy
Mark Galeotti's op-ed on how Russia aims to divide, distract, dismay and dominate neighbours with 'heavy metal diplomacy'
Can governance Trump guns? European security after the US elections
Rather than trying to duplicate NATO, the EU should instead focus on 'hybrid defence'
Aleppo is paying for Russia’s imagined global threat
Russia's brutality in Aleppo reflects Moscow’s perspective on warfighting, its military capabilities, and its sense of threat.
‘New KGB’ plans betray Putin’s anxiety
If true, this would be a serious shift in policy, reflecting a dawning awareness on Putin’s part that his old strategies for governing Russia are looking increasingly ineffective.
Putin’s incredible shrinking circle
At a time when Russia is heading into renewed turbulence, he appears determined to ensure he has none around him willing to express uncomfortable truths
In the media
Mark Galeotti is quoted on how the Western Balkans have become a fragile game board between the EU and other powers
Mark Galeotti is quoted on how the Western Balkans have become a fragile game board between the EU and other powers
Le rapport de Mark Galleoti cité dans Le Journal du Dimanche suite à l'expulsion des diplomates russes à travers l'Europe.
Mark Galeotti quoted in Al Jazeera on diplomatic action against Russia of fourteen EU countries
Mark Galeotti on the Morning Vertical discussing the Russian election