CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit was intended to warn Russia against military action involving Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Study and practice of how sovereign states, international institutions, and non-state actors interact across borders. Encompasses diplomacy, negotiation, alliances, and conflict — the foundational domain through which global order is constructed, contested, and maintained.

The diplomacy lens matters because this was not only a military pause. It was also a negotiated pause assembled through intermediaries, public statements, and a still-uncertain next phase.

The alliance's cooperation with Western partners: collective defence and deterrence, defence-industrial and technology investment, burden-sharing and the coordination of military support among member states and allied governments.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow in August 2026 and met Russian intelligence officials. Reports indicate that the talks addressed possible Russian action against NATO, the war in Ukraine and Russia's support for Iran, although the full purpose remains undisclosed.