The article argues that modern conflicts are increasingly defined by attrition, driven by three strategic gaps: the difference between nominal military power and usable capacity; the difficulty of achieving breakthroughs in a technologically advanced battlefield; and the detachment of military means from clear political objectives. Evidence from Ukraine and the Middle East demonstrates that sustained logistics, rapid technological adaptation, and proxy networks are now more decisive than sheer military size. For policymakers, this implies a strategic shift away from seeking short, decisive victories toward preparing for prolonged, high-cost engagements, requiring a focus on sustainable supply chains and defining concrete, attainable political end-states.
Russia and Eurasia Programme
English Summary
Chatham House presents its Russia and Eurasia Programme as a policy-impact platform focused on delivering rigorous analysis of Russia, Ukraine, and other post-Soviet states whose trajectories have sharply diverged. The core argument is that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally reshaped regional security and politics, making sovereignty and independence the essential analytical starting point for all countries in scope. Its reasoning is grounded in sustained research output, expert convenings, media engagement, and partnerships with academic and policy institutions to test and disseminate findings on war dynamics, domestic political change, and regional geopolitics. For policymakers and strategists, the implication is a need for differentiated country-specific approaches, long-term support for Ukrainian resilience and reconstruction, and continuous reassessment of Russia’s internal and external trajectory in a volatile regional environment.
中文摘要
查塔姆研究所將其「俄羅斯與歐亞計畫」定位為一個以政策影響為導向的平台，旨在就俄羅斯、烏克蘭及其他後蘇聯國家提供嚴謹分析；這些國家的發展路徑已出現顯著分化。其核心論點指出，俄羅斯對烏克蘭的全面入侵已從根本上重塑區域安全與政治格局，因此，對於納入研究範圍的所有國家而言，主權與獨立應作為分析的首要起點。其論證基礎來自持續性的研究產出、專家會議、媒體互動，以及與學術和政策機構的合作，用以檢驗並傳播對戰爭動態、國內政治變遷與區域地緣政治的研究發現。對政策制定者與戰略規劃者而言，這意味著必須採取差異化且符合各國情境的政策路徑，長期支持烏克蘭的韌性與重建，並在高度波動的區域環境中持續重新評估俄羅斯的內外走向。
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