Stuck in the Ukrainian Conundrum: U.S. And Europe Need to Drop Sanctions and Negotiate a Way Out
Doug Bandow Many Ukrainians expect America and Europe to save them. Suggest that they are living a fantasy gets you tarred as a blatant fool and Russian stooge. Yet Ukraine shouldn’t waste time posing as a fairy tale maiden in distress waiting for rescue by the Western knight in shining armor. Kiev risks ending up as a failed state. Ukraine...
No, ‘We’ Aren’t Responsible for Chibok Girls: Political Proclamations Won’t Solve World’s Problems
Doug Bandow What do you do after you brought your party’s control of government to a dramatic end? You become an international scold and blowhard, blaming the world’s problems on everyone else—who have no ability to solve any of them. In fact, has-beens and once-weres often are brought in as decorations for international gatherings,...
Zhirinovsky Headed for the Scrap Heap?
A statue of the controversial Russian nationalist may be dismantled for breaching federal law. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
HCSS: Defense Reform in Ukraine: Civil Society to the Rescue
Stephan attended a meeting on Ukrainian Defense Reform at the NATO Liaison Office in Kyiv. …read more Source: The Hague Centre for Strategic...
Verdict awaited on Russian military intelligence officers captured in Donbas
Media hype suggesting that Monday’s verdict due on two Russians believed to be from GRU or Russian military intelligence could immediately be used to ensure Nadiya Savchenko’s exchange and return to Ukraine, is, her lawyer warns, premature …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Draconian laws set scene for mass arrests in Russia & Occupied Crimea
Two draft laws tabled in the Russian parliament have been described as setting the ground for Russia’s FSB to imprison people en masse on ‘extremism’ charges, with these increasingly used in Russia to silence criticism of the regime, and especially its annexation of Crimea …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Groysman Approved as Ukraine’s New Prime Minister
Poroshenko’s ally was chosen to replace his unpopular predecessor in hopes of overcoming the long-lasting government crisis. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
HCSS: The Dutch referendum in the Ukrainian newspaper ‘Den’.
Stephan de Spiegeleire shared his views on how Ukraine was covered in the Dutch referendum and what the outcome means for the relationship between Ukraine and Europe in today’s edition of the Ukrainian… …read more Source: The Hague Centre for Strategic...
NATO Needs Deterrence and Dialogue
Deterrence is back in Europe. As NATO approaches its July summit in Warsaw, Allies are adapting this concept to the new security settings in place in Europe since the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. Yet, deterrence is intrinsically connected to dialogue: these are the two pillars of NATO’s strategy, as defined in the 1967 Harmel Report....
Although the hryvnia is strengthening, Ukraine currently cannot give up cooperation with the IMF
In his comment to the website Novoe Vremia, Director of Economic Programmes of the Razumkov Centre Vasyl Yurchyshyn explained why, despite continued lack of new tranches from the IMF, the Ukrainian hryvnia is showing a trend towards strengthening. Over the last months, the Ukrainian currency has demonstrated growth, dropping below 26 UAH per USD....
