In a blog post for the Washington Post today, SIWPS Member Kimberly Marten describes how Moscow-backed local warlords may be emerging out of the political instability and violence in the Ukraine.

“Amidst all the talk of whether the Russian or Ukrainian government bears greater responsibility for the violence in eastern Ukraine and Odessa, we may be losing sight of a crucial dynamic that is happening on the ground.  Local armed men in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odessa and elsewhere have started down the slippery slope to warlordism — and Moscow may be encouraging this trend.”

The blog post is available on the Washington Post website.