Join War on the Rocks and gain access to content trusted by policymakers, military leaders, and strategic thinkers worldwide.
As we look back at 2022, the world seems a lot different than when we assembled this list in 2021. While it appeared as if Russia was preparing for war at this time last year, analysts differed on whether Moscow was engaged in an elaborate bluff to force Kyiv to make concessions or if President Vladimir Putin was prepared to use his military to invade Ukraine to topple the regime.
For now, the invasion looks like a strategic blunder that has inched the world closer to nuclear war. It has also revealed a series of systemic issues both within the Russian military and in Western societies that are now trying to ramp up production of military equipment to supply Ukraine’s armed forces.
Last year, we predicted that “2021 might be remembered as the year that War on the Rocks pivoted to the Indo-Pacific.” Well, if we look back at 2022, the return of war to Europe has driven readers to a slew of articles breaking down the conflict from logistics to the future of war. 15 of the year’s top 20 most-read articles are about Ukraine — a clear indication that our readers look to our authors to understand Russia’s motivations for war and Ukraine’s capacity to resist.