Section: Intersection (EU)
Russia is Europe
Russia / Europe As the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine escalates, and Russia begins to resemble a monarchy run by Ivan the Terrible which allows Simeons Bekbulatoviches to occasionally jump in the driver’s seat, the word is spreading among those who are not indifferent to this country that Russia is not Europe but some kind of...
A sentence for a repost
Politics – And we seem to be fighting it but the results are negligible. And results in this case mean jail. So where are the imprisonments? Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Presidium of the Government on smuggling Our subsequent summary report published in February 2015 indicates a sharp increase in the number of sentences for online...
Governors on their way out
Politics The Kremlin decided to replace the gubernatorial corps in early 2017. Lists of “underachievers” are currently circulating in the media. Some have already been dismissed while others are hastily organizing press conferences to reassure their public that their positions remain secure. Members of the gubernatorial corps are panicking as, in...
Russia and China: A Strange Case of Convergence
Russia / World After every meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin, the two sides issue warm statements and stress their growing cooperation. Especially since the war in Ukraine began in 2014, Russia has tacked ever closer to China, shedding some of its traditional fear of its southern neighbor and...
The War Must Go On
Security Yet a further escalation of hostilities in the Donbas which is taking place mostly near the city of Avdiivka, has been underway since January 2017, reaching its peak in February. This battle shows that the war between Russia and Ukraine is far from over despite the Minsk agreements. Moreover, the reality which served as a backdrop for...
The emancipation of Ukraine
Russia / Europe Rebroadcasting of the Russian liberal TV channel “Dozhd” has been banned in Kyiv for having presented Crimea as part of the territory of the Russian Federation (RF). Opponents of the ban argue that “Dozhd” had no other option than to comply with Russian legislation in order to retain its Russian broadcasting license. Proponents of...
Эмансипация Украины
Russia / Europe В Киеве запретили ретрансляцию российского либерального телеканала “Дождь» – за то, что он обозначал Крым как территорию РФ. Противники запрета рассуждают о том, что “Дождь» был вынужден соблюдать российское законодательство, иначе мог лишиться лицензии в России. Сторонники запрета пожимают плечами – “dura...
Unenergetic energy
Economy European leaders adopted the EU Energy Security Strategy in Brussels at the end of May 2014, just three months after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Naturally, it took several months to prepare the proposal and, in the spirit of these times, the issue of Europe’s energy dependency on Russia weighed heavily. It was emphasized...
Insulting Putin: case of Sanat Dosov
Russia / World In late December, as the quarter-century anniversary of the USSR’s dissolution passed, a ruling out of Kazakhstan displayed how little distance remained between Moscow and certain former Soviet republics. In Aktobe, Kazakhstan, a local court sentenced a 46-year-old Kazakhstani native to three years in jail for his online...
Human Trafficking: open question in the Shut-In Russia
Society January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States. Although at first glance human trafficking does not seem to be a contentious topic, the issue of human trafficking is a political one in countries the world over. From the adoption of the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in...
