Ukrainian NATO Membership as a Bargaining Chip with Russia
There are two ways of using the NATO membership question in negotiations with Russia: soft-line and hardline. Both aim at a deal for peace in Ukraine, but on different terms; one would refuse Ukraine membership in return for a deal, the other would not grant membership unless Russia agreed to a good enough deal. The former would need a compromise...
Why Putin gambled on airstrikes in Syria – and what might come next
Mikhail Klimentiev/Ria NovostiFor those watching closely, the signal for Russia’s first airstrikes came in a statement early on September 30 by Kremlin spokesman Sergei Ivanov, just after the upper house of the parliament authorised military operations: To observe international law, one of two conditions has to be met – either a UN Security...
Quo vadis, Ukraine? asks Ivan Mikloš during 139th mBank – CASE Seminar
Language English “If I am to point to one most important characteristic of Ukraine it is the fact that it is a country whose level of development is far below its potential” – said Ivan Mikloš, co-founder and president of think-tank MESA10 and a member of the International Advisory Board of National Reform Council of Ukraine, who was the keynote...
Russia Launches Airstrikes in Syria
Syrian opposition says attacks targeted them, not Islamic State as Moscow claims. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
‘Russian Soldiers’ on Trial in Ukraine
Foreign military intelligence officers’ hearing coincides with Ukrainian pilot’s trial resuming in Russia. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
The Still-Topical Tagliavini Report
Many people are trying to rewrite the history of the 2008 Georgia-Russia War in the light of the Ukraine crisis. The EU’s report on the war is still a useful baseline and a reminder of how different the two conflicts are. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Hitting A Sour Note
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has opened deep divisions on the music scene, as some artists take up political stances and others try to avoid controversy. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
The Government We Deserve?
The problem with the twenty-four hour news cycle is that everything being reported comes and goes too quickly to connect the dots. I noted a number of stories during the past several weeks that should have raised all kinds of red flags, particularly if considered together, but they frequently received such limited media coverage and were gone so...
Radio Free Acton: Samuel Gregg and Todd Huizenga on the EU’s Refugee Crisis
On this edition of Radio Free Acton, Acton Institute Director of Research Samuel Gregg and Director of International Outreach Todd Huizenga discuss the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, the strain that the crisis is putting on the European Union, and what the likely long-term impact of the crisis will be. You can listen to the podcast via the...
Orwell at the UN: Obama Re-Defines Democracy as ‘a Country That Supports US Policy’
In his Orwellian September 28, 2015 speech to the United Nations, President Obama said that if democracy had existed in Syria, there never would have been a revolt against Assad. By that, he meant ISIL. Where there is democracy, he said, there is no violence or revolution. This was his threat to promote revolution, coups and violence against any...
