Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Ukraine’s Government on the Ropes
Premier Yatsenyuk fends off a challenge from the president, but his legitimacy is slipping with each new corruption scandal. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
How China Sees Russia
At a time when Russian relations with the United States and western European countries are growing cold, the relatively warm ties between China and Russia have attracted renewed interest. Scholars and journalists in the West find themselves debating the nature of the Chinese-Russian partnership and wondering whether it will evolve into an...
Offshore Hydrocarbon Resources in the Arctic
The Arctic region has been an area of low tension since the end of the Cold War. This observation is important because the run on hydrocarbons in the Arctic has not resulted in increased rivalries as expected. The outcomes have been international joint ventures in oil and gas project on the economic side and a strengthening of Arctic governance...
Leaked memo highlights fears of ‘reform contagion’ from UK-EU deal
Leaked memo highlights fears of ‘reform contagion’ from UK-EU dealThe Daily Telegraph reports that a leaked diplomatic text reveals how Belgium, France, Hungary and Spain will seek amendments to the UK-EU deal in a bid to prevent a ‘contagion’ of reform across Europe. Spain fears that Britain is seeking to cut the European Central...
Arbitration Claims by Ukrainian Investors under the Russia-Ukraine BIT: between Crimea and a Hard Place?
In the last two years, multiple investment arbitration claims have been registered against Russia in regards to the consequences of its actions in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (“Crimea”). The following cases are of particular interest: Stabil LLC and others v The Russian Federation LLC Lugzor and others v The […]...
Obama and Israel: The Final Year
Obama and Israel: The Final Year BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 330, February 17, 2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israel needs a more active and aggressive diplomatic strategy to thwart what seems to be an escalating campaign of pressure from the international community on the Palestinian issue; a campaign that President Obama can be expected to lead...
Making Sense of the Turmoil in Kyiv
Turmoil in Kyiv continued as President Petro Poroshenko called on both Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to resign on February 16. The President’s parliamentary faction then introduced a resolution in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, describing the performance of the cabinet of ministers, headed by...
Russia’s Crimean Tatar show trial proves too shoddy even for the court
In a surprise move on Feb 15, the Supreme Court in Russian-occupied Crimea sent the case against Crimean Tatar leader Akhtem Chiygoz and 5 other Crimean Tatars back for ‘further investigation’. This came on the same day that the Memorial Human Rights Centre condemned the trial and recognized Chiygoz, Ali Asanov and Mustafa Degermendzhy as...
Kharkiv woman awarded huge damages for police torture
The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Ukraine to pay Svitlana Pomilyayko 20 thousand EUR in damages after accepting that she had been subjected to torture while in police custody, and that the authorities had failed to properly investigate her complaints. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Putin Orders ‘Snap Inspection’ Exercise in Southern Military District
On February 8, President Vladimir Putin ordered a “snap inspection” military exercise in the Southern Military District (MD) (see EDM, February 11). The pattern of snap inspection exercises in Russia is now well established, introduced in February 2013 by Defense Minister Army-General Sergei Shoigu in an effort to raise combat readiness in the...
