UN Says Russia Abusing Human Rights in Crimea
New report gathers evidence for arbitrary detentions, abductions, torture and systematic repression since the annexation of the Ukrainian territory. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
September 20th, 2017
CHINA China Is Refusing To Cede Ground As US Issues Trade Threats Sophia Yan, NBC News The long-term battle on trade between the US and China shows no sign of ending as a war of words ensued this week between the two. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called China an “unprecedented” threat, because of the “sheer scale of their coordinated...
Ukraine: Respect Human Rights and the Rule of Law
Human Rights Watch welcomes the Office of the High Commissioner’s periodic reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine. We value its excellent work in the country. We share the High Commissioner’s concerns over the impact repeated ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine have on civilians’ lives. The use by all sides to the...
Finding My Creative Courage in North Korea
Just 15 months after taking his first writing workshop at Aspen Summer Words, Welby Altidor published Creative Courage, a book that draws on his experience as executive creative director at Cirque du Soleil, where he was responsible for a portfolio of groundbreaking live events. In the midst of making the final edits to his manuscript this past...
Ukraine’s unfinished reform agenda
Compared to previous attempts, especially those following the Orange Revolution in 2004, the current reform round in Ukraine (since 2014) has proved more successful. Some politically difficult decisions have been taken, such as the elimination of gas subsidies and the restructuring of the banking system. But reform remains incomplete in many...
Eastern Europe’s Competitive Edge
Summary Eastern Europe is the most dynamic part of the European continent. So great is its potential that it is among the subjects at our annual conference in October. But before we can explain why this is, we must first define what we mean by Eastern Europe. For the purposes of this Deep Dive, Eastern Europe includes nine countries: Bulgaria,...
An End in Sight for Ukraine … Maybe
By Jacob L. Shapiro The conflict in Ukraine has developed an interminable quality. We are now over three years into the war in Donbass, and every day brings new updates on cease-fire violations or steps forward and backward on implementing the Minsk accord. This can make it hard to determine when conditions have actually changed. There have been...
A U.N. Peacekeeping Operation Is the Only Way Forward In Ukraine
A complete cessation of violence in southeastern Ukraine, the essential first condition of Minsk implementation, requires nothing less than a full-scale peacekeeping operation authorized by the U.N. Security Council. | Русский …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Russia brazenly flouts UN Hague Court and jails Crimean Tatar leader Ilmi Umerov
In a shock move on September 27, a Russian-controlled ‘court’ in Crimea sentenced 60-year-old Ilmi Umerov, who has multiple serious illnesses, to two years’ imprisonment. Given the suspended sentence of journalist Mykola Semena on analogous charges just one week ago, the conclusion seems clear that the harsher sentence in this case is...
The Atlantic Council: ‘Debates’ Between People Who Hate Russia & People Who Really Hate Russia
Welcome to the Atlantic Council. A think tank which isn’t given to introspection and which ultimately amounts to NATO’s propaganda arm. This week, I endured an Atlantic Council echo-chamber to spare you the bother. The list of lobbyists retained by the club (who prefer to call each other ‘fellows’) reads like a veritable...
