Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
False Flag Alert on Refugee ‘Crisis’?
In the past week, the flood of undocumented and unregistered Middle Eastern and African migrants into the EU has become an inundation. The high water mark of the human tide is located in Hungary, which is not a logical outcome despite the country’s geographical position at the center of Europe. Understanding why is the key to understanding...
Reform #1. Why Ukraine has to reform its gas sector
In April 2015, the Ukrainian parliament passed a long-awaited law on the gas sector which paves the way for the extremely difficult process of reforming and de-monopolising the Ukrainian gas sector. The law will come into force on 1 October 2015 and involves the break-up of the state-owned company Naftogaz, the current monopolist, and the gradual...
Ukraine’s agreement with private creditors
The agreement comes as a success for Ukraine since it removes the threat of the country defaulting in the forthcoming months. …read more Source: Centre for Eastern Studies...
CASE bids farewell to Luca Barbone
The former President of CASE and current CASE Fellow Dr. Luca Barbone, aged 62, passed away on September 1, 2015 after short but dramatic struggle with cancer. An Italian national but man of the world, Dr. Barbone grew up in Milan and graduated from Bocconi University in 1976. In 1985 he obtained a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the Massachusetts...
Ukraine is divided over constitutional reform
The proposed amendments to the constitution provide for a fundamental reform of the political system. …read more Source: Centre for Eastern Studies...
Ukraine is losing economic sway over the rebel zones of Donbas
Before the war in Donbas, the separatist regions were subsidized by Ukraine, with about $2.6 billion a year going to pensions and an additional $3.2 billion to coal subsidies. Now, rubles from Russia’s own strained budget are filling that subsidy gap, buying influence along the way, the New York Times newspaper reports. “When we speak of...
Digital Diplomacy links: Russia’s game of trolls, DFAT’s social media use, Iran deal, SIGINT, BBC and more
On the first Friday of each month the Interpreter will publish Digital Diplomacy links instead of the weekly Digital Asia links. As Australian digital diplomacy strives to catch-up to the rest of the world, these links will highlight the most creative and effective ways in which countries are leveraging the Internet for foreign policy gain. The...
Autumn Pause Follows Donbas August Fighting
Fighting has dramatically subsided in eastern Ukraine by September 1. A couple of weeks ago, in mid-August, the situation was different and the guns were blazing. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists: “It is now possible to call the ‘separation line’ [in Donbas] a ‘front line.’ ” Lavrov accused the Ukrainian...
Action Plan to End War in Ukraine Charted at Berlin Meeting (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. On August 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called together a unique meeting, in Berlin, of the “Normandy” format minus Russia (though essentially in consensus with Moscow). Merkel, along with French President François Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, outlined a series of steps that need...
Action Plan to End War in Ukraine Charted at Berlin Meeting (Part One)
An overall consensus, in broad outline, seems to have taken shape among the main European players, pre-eminently Moscow and Berlin, to accelerate a solution to the conflict “in” Ukraine by the end of this year, on Russia’s terms. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted a meeting in Berlin on August 24, in an unprecedented “Normandy minus...
