FTAC: Syria – “Expect ‘Mission Creep’”
Posted to YouTube by The New York Times, April 7, 2017. Comment: The public presentation of conflict may attempt to keep separate Syria, Ukraine, Russia, and Iran, but I don’t think the Kremlin (this is a good comment for Kremlin Watch) has an “Off” button in association with the defense of the autocratic feudal past that each dictatorship...
How Can the West Combat the Global Democratic Recession?
Map of Eurasia by Regime Type (Source: Freedom House 2017 Nations in Transit Report) Earlier this month, Freedom House released its annual “Nations in Transit” (NIT) report,[1] which painted a disheartening picture for democracy in Eurasia. “Populists’ stunning electoral victories in Europe and the United States have shaken the post–Cold...
Russia’s YouTube Generation
Society On March 26th, a wave of anti-corruption protests swept across more than 90 Russian cities. One of the central themes was the active participation of people under 20, which many in Russia’s state media indulgently (and somewhat patronisingly) called ‘school kids’ (shkolota). Of course, it is hardly possible to calculate the...
Kleptocracy Weekly: 4/3-4/7
KI will host Oleksander Danyliuk, Minister of Finance of Ukraine, for a discussion with Walter Russell Mead at Hudson Institute on April 19. Sign up or watch live. ICYMI: Watch video of the 3/31 Brookings event, ‘One year after the Panama Papers: Progress on anonymous corporate ownership?’, which featured Senator Whitehouse, KI’s...
Conspiracy Theories & the St. Petersburg Metro Tragedy
(Source: kremlin.ru) Everyone likes a good conspiracy. Conspiracies explain a complicated world.[1] …read more Source: Foreign Policy Research...
Kleptocracy Daily: April 7, 2017
KI will host Oleksander Danyliuk, Minister of Finance of Ukraine, for a discussion with Walter Russell Mead at Hudson Institute on April 19. Sign up or watch live. News The FBI and federal immigration agents searched a hotel and two homes in California for evidence related to an alleged $50 million visa fraud scheme that gave green cards to...
European Parliament approves visa liberalization for Ukraine
It’s finally happened! The European Parliament on April 6 voted to lift visa requirements for Ukrainians wishing to travel to anywhere in the Schengen zone. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
After Praise and Death Threats, Ukraine’s Central Bank Governor Quits
April 10, 2017 …read more Source: Center on Global...
2 Crimean Tatars on trial for a pre-annexation pro-Ukraine rally released under house arrest
Ali Asanov and Mustafa Degermendzhy are home with their families after almost two years in custody. Both are under house arrest and their surreal trial is continuing, but at least they have been freed from custody. Russia is continuing to hold Crimean Tatar Mejlis leader Akhtem Chiygoz in custody and prevent him from even attending his own trial...
Emerging Europe: Happy Alike and Unhappy in Their Own Ways
Inclusion and green growth are aspects that some emerging Europe countries have not really started taking seriously enough, so institutions like ours need to further increase support and to invest more in both aspects, says Sergei Guriev, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He spoke to Andrew Wrobel...
