Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Europe’s Next Wave of Migrants May Come From Ukraine
In chess, a player is in “zugzwang” when no move will rescue his situation.Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Ukraine in “zugzwang” and, as things now stand, the country is unable to move forward militarily, economically or diplomatically.Without relief, Europe may end up with another deluge of asylum seekers, this...
Russia Looking for an Exit?
As Russia increases its support for beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels in eastern Ukraine have observed a ceasefire since September 1. The second Minsk ceasefire agreement, signed in February, had been repeatedly violated. But things have changed. Some separatist leaders have left the area, returning to posh jobs in Moscow....
Creating ‘A Piece of America’ in the Carpathian Mountains
Camp America, located at a charmingly rustic resort in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountains, welcomed twenty young Ukrainians for a week in August. For most of them, Camp America—a 24/7 English-language environment where all activities are conducted in English—was their first experience with native English speakers.”I like to tell our...
Investigative Journalists Present Exhaustive Report on ‘Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine’
The Russian government under President Vladimir Putin is “directly coordinating and leading the fight to destabilize and disunite Ukraine”—despite Putin’s increasingly desperate efforts to hide the truth—concludes a damning report issued September 17. “An Invasion by Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine” is a joint...
How Putin Shot Himself in the Foot
Russian propaganda managed to surpass its own absurdity when the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, claimed that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk fought alongside rebel forces in both Chechen wars. Yatsenyuk supposedly tortured and executed Russian soldiers there. This apparently took place in the...
How the West Can Stand Up to Putin
Winter is less than four months away, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is already freezing eastern Ukraine.No, I’m not talking about the possibility of Ukraine not being able to renegotiate lower gas prices this year. (That’s another issue entirely).The kind of freeze that Putin is plotting for Ukraine is political. For more than...
What Europe Needs to Do to Solve its Energy Security Problem
Over the past few years, the European Union (EU) has sought to enhance its energy security by implementing the Third Energy Package, proposing an Energy Union, holding Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom to competition rules, and actively pursuing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Despite these efforts, the EU...
Ukraine After Euromaidan: What Difference Does a Revolution Make?
Many people claim that following the 2013-14 protests against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and worsening violence in the Donbas, Ukrainian attitudes have significantly changed—mainly towards European integration, support for democracy and the fight against corruption. Our project—“Region,...
Russia’s Gazprom Unable to Do Without Europe
Russia has confirmed the primacy of Nord Stream—a natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea—in its efforts to replace Ukrainian transit routes for gas exports to Europe, diminishing the likely role to be played by its southern counterpart, Turkish Stream. The agreement, signed September 4 in Vladivostok, sets out the shareholding arrangements...
Five Questions GOP Candidates Should Answer About Putin
Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s most bombastic presidential candidate, thinks President Barack Obama is a wimp and that he’s weak on Ukraine.”Putin does not respect our president whatsoever,” Trump said via Skype at the Yalta European Strategy Summit in Kyiv on September 11.Trump’s language is consistent with...
