Enemies of the United Nations, from Stalin to Putin
In the aftermath of the Second World War, vast swathes of Europe and Asia lay devastated. Some seventy million people – soldiers and civilians – had died in the conflict. Twenty seven million of the dead had been Soviet citizens, mostly killed in the war against Nazi Germany. American, British, and French policymakers, seeking to build a stable...
Russia in Afghanistan: Playing with Fire
As the longest war in US history rumbles on, Moscow looks at the Afghanistan conflict with interest. Allegations of Moscow’s meddling in the country, particularly its aid to the Taliban, raise questions over Russia’s geopolitical interests in Afghanistan, with the Kremlin’s mixed strategy reflecting how it is also precariously...
Ukraine Should Drop Bills Which Hamper Activists’ Work
Expand Lawmakers attend a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine December 21, 2017. © 2017 Reuters A package of draft laws presented by the administration of Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, has lingered since the summer on the desks of Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Part of this package would annul a senseless legal provision...
Why Election Reform Should Be a Top Priority Now
Election reform in Ukraine is finally gaining some momentum. In December, parliament passed in the first reading draft law #3112-1, which creates an open list proportional election system and makes it easier for small parties to win seats in parliament. In addition, the president’s long-awaited list of candidates for the Central Election...
Georgia’s sentence against Saakashvili: restoration of justice or political persecution?
Written by: Givi Gigitashvili Source: Euromaidan Press As Ukraine mulls deporting ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship, to Georgia on the request of the Georgian court, despite earlier having, like most European countries, qualified his trial in Georgia as politically motivated, let’s revisit...
Ukraine reintegration bill Donbas deadlock
Russia says the bill amounts to preparation for war. But it might clear a path for meaningful negotiations. …read more Source: International Institute for Strategic...
Closed trial for tortured Ukrainian accused of a ‘Crimea sabotage plot’ that never was
The ‘trial’ has begun of Andriy Zakhtei, one of the four Ukrainians seized by the FSB in Russian-occupied Crimea in August 2016 and accused of involvement in a supposed ‘Ukrainian Crimea saboteur plot’. It appears that the entire ‘trial’ will be held behind closed doors, enabling Russia’s FSB to conceal the lack of a...
From Lone Actors to Daesh: Rethinking the Response to the Diverse Threats of Terrorist Financing
In view of the terrorist threat and diversity of funding efforts, counter-terrorist financing efforts should aim to address the modus operandi of any given target, placing greater emphasis on the intelligence value that finance provides.Download the article (PDF)On 23 September 2001, President George W Bush signed Executive Order 13224, which...
Ukraine: Failing Its Human Rights Commitments
Expand Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk arrive for a joint news conference following the EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev, Ukraine, July 13, 2017. © 2017 REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko (Kyiv) – Ukrainian authorities backtracked on important human rights pledges...
Ukraine Tech Goes Global
Source: Emerging Europe Written by Mike Buryk According to IT Ukraine, a trade association for 58 IT-companies in the country, the sector was the third most important in 2017, with national export volumes worth 3.2 billion US dollars. About 100 R&D centers of major global companies are located in Ukraine. There are 13 Ukrainian companies […]...
