Assessing U.S. Sanctions: Impact, Effectiveness, Consequences
Cosponsored by the Kennan Institute and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has the United States and its European allies struggling to find a way to respond to Russia’s actions and continuing violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. To date, that response is centered on calibrated but escalating sanctions against...
Moscow’s Twisted History Lessons
Russia’s Victory Day, celebrated on May 9th, has for decades been its most unifying event of the year domestically and its least controversial holiday internationally. But because of the peculiarities of the Kremlin’s politics of history, Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and the ongoing struggle over Ukraine, even the celebration...
New Revelations in Litvinenko Inquiry, Seselj Vows to Stay in Serbia
Plus, Kazakhstan and China sign a $23 billion economic package and a bold Wagner staging costs Novosibirsk’s opera chief his job. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug to visit Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk
KYIV, 31 March 2015 – Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Alexander Hug will visit Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk on 1 and 2 April. He will meet the SMM teams working in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, Joint Centre for Control and Coordination representatives, as well as other relevant interlocutors and assess the...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 29 March 2015
This report is for media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed that fighting continued in areas around Donetsk airport and...
Website blocking in France; other anti-terrorist legislation in some OSCE countries may curb free expression, says OSCE Representative
VIENNA, 30 March 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today that the unilateral decisions by the Interior Ministry in France, without judicial oversight, to block five websites for allegedly causing or promoting terrorism represents a serious threat to free expression and free media. “Blocking websites...
Russia’s UN Ambassador Churkin Discusses Peace and Security at IPI
On March 30th, IPI’s Vienna Office hosted a roundtable on “Russia and the maintenance of international peace and security” with Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. The event was held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution.Participants included bilateral as well as...
Karimov Heads for Fourth Term in Uzbekistan, Crimea’s Tatars Fear End is Near for TV Station
Plus, Soros urges the West to invest in Ukraine, and Hungary’s far-right leader presents a ‘modern, urban guy’ image. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Bye-Bye, Abkhazia, Crimea, South Ossetia!
European governments are powerless to prevent the erosion of the security architecture set out in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Identity and Violence in Ukraine
Since the Maidan protests erupted at the end of 2013 Ukrainian society has witnessed a deep transformation, in which polarising as well as consolidating tendencies can be identified. The “Revolution of Dignity” and Russia’s violation of the country’s territorial integrity have strengthened Ukrainian identity in a way that has enhanced...
