Stephen Sestanovich

How push alerts from The New York Times have shaped our understanding of the unrelenting news cycle since Donald Trump was elected president.            

Congress has come to an agreement on new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions are relatively straightforward, but the bill also constrains President Donald Trump’s executive powers.

The Iraqi government declared victory in Mosul after almost nine months of fighting ISIS. Efforts to rebuild the city's infrastructure and population are expected to bring a heavy cost. 

Last weekend, thousands gathered in Moscow to protest for new parliamentary elections after accusations of fraud and widespread vote falsification were made. On Monday, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced that he would challenge Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential election in the spring. And Wednesday, the speaker of Parliament—an ally of Putin’s—resigned. On today’s Backstory, Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy at Columbia University, talks about what this week’s events say about Russia’s political landscape.