Russia vs. Council of Europe
Critics led by Ukraine grind teeth as human rights watchdog’s chief says it should meet Moscow’s demands. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
“100 Crimean Tatar Kids Who Lost Their Fathers”
Expand Statue of a Russian soldier in Simferopol, Crimea. The plaque reads: “To ‘Polite People’ from grateful residents of Crimea.” Local authorities installed the statue in 2016 to mark the events of February 2014, when Russian soldiers without insignia, referred to by local residents as “polite people,” took control over Crimea. © 2017...
There’s nothing green about socialism
Earlier this month, I wrote about the determined efforts of socialists on both sides of the Atlantic to conflate capitalism with racism. No doubt, some promoters of capitalism were racists. But that is hardly surprising, since racism, along with slavery and wanton cruelty, were universal and, until recently, eternal phenomena. The truth is, no...
Facing Russia’s Strategic Challenge: Security Developments from the Baltic to the Black Sea
The EU and NATO are facing an increasingly uncertain and complex situation on their eastern and south-eastern borders. In what the EU has traditionally conceived as its ‘shared neighbourhood’ with Russia and NATO its ‘eastern flank’, Moscow is exhibiting a growingly assertive military posture. The context of the Baltic and the Black...
The coup d’etat in Luhansk
On 25 November, as a result of an armed coup, Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, was replaced by Leonid Pasechnik. …read more Source: Centre for Eastern Studies...
Hacker Admits Aiding Russian Agents in Yahoo Breach
One of two FSB agents indicted by U.S. in same case may have been playing a double game. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Putin Pledges Money to Boost Birthrate
The knock-on effects of the social chaos in the 1990s will depress population growth for years to come, Russia’s economy minister says. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Russian Church, Crime Fighters Reopen Probes of Nicholas II’s Death
Orthodox bishop denies anti-Semitic overtones in remarks about ‘ritual murder’ of last czar and his family. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Chinese manoeuvres further confounding Middle East
I was in Doha, Qatar, for a conference on 13-14 November 2017, which was being held against the backdrop of the continued Saudi Arabia-led blockade of Qatar since June 2017 and the occurrence coincidentally of three other sensational, Saudi-related events on November 4. The first and most astonishing of the three events was the arrest and...
Arms control, security cooperation, and U.S.-Russian relations
By Steven PiferFor nearly 50 years, arms control agreements have contributed to more stable and predictable relations between Washington and Moscow. Beginning in the late 1980s, agreements such as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty followed by the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) went beyond mere limitations to...
