Arctic brinkmanship over Greenland, NATO in chaos, and Putin’s calculated silence. In the latest episode of Russia Decoded, hosts Andy Kuchins and Chris Monday unpack how Russian state media frames the fragmenting West.

January 2026 may well be remembered as the moment the post-1945 international order finally began to splinter. In a dizzying sequence of events spanning from the frozen fjords of Greenland to the protest-choked streets of Iran, the world has entered a stress test of its most basic security assumptions. At the center of this tectonic shift is an unprecedented crisis within NATO, sparked by a territorial dispute that few saw coming.

President Donald Trump’s decision to link the US acquisition of Greenland to punitive tariffs against NATO allies has shattered the long-standing norm of unconditional collective defense. The European response, “Operation Arctic Endurance,” was a study in geopolitical impotence: the deployment of a mere 15 soldiers each from Germany, France, and Britain to Nuuk, only for the German contingent to be recalled almost immediately upon landing. Neither the German Ministry of Defense nor the mission leadership provided a clear public explanation for the abrupt exit. Russian state media has relished the spectacle of transatlantic disunity and European paralysis.

As the White House hammers NATO over Greenland, Russian president Vladimir Putin has moved to revive the “Great Game” in Central Asia, making Russia the first global power to normalize diplomatic relations with the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan. In a Kremlin ceremony for newly appointed ambassadors, Putin accepted the diplomatic credentials of Gul Hassan Hassan, the Taliban-appointed ambassador to Moscow.

In the Western Hemisphere, meanwhile, Cuba has begun to feel the reverberations of the US operation in Venezuela. Russian state media delivered a romanticized report on the funerals of Cuban soldiers killed defending the Maduro regime and espoused nostalgia for Soviet-Cuban brotherhood, but the reality on the ground remains one of rot. Despite Trump’s demands on Havana for a “deal,” Moscow has offered no material support to its fading ally, focusing instead on protecting the narrow business interests of Rosneft.

How does Russian state media view a potential transatlantic split over Greenland? And why has it gone silent on the ongoing Ukraine negotiations? In the latest episode of Russia Decoded, Andy Kuchins and Chris Monday unpack how Vladimir Putin and Russian elites understand the world, and how they seek to influence it.

Listen to the new episode now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

About the Speakers: Andy Kuchins and Chris Monday

Andrew C. Kuchins is currently a senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest and an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He has served as President of the American University of Central Asia and the Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center as well as the Russia and Eurasia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is the author or editor of 7 books and published columns for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many other media outlets.

Chris Monday is an associate professor of economics at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea.