Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Don’t Blame the Oligarchs: Why Have Ukraine’s Cultural Reforms Gone Nowhere?
The demonizing of Ukrainian oligarchs as major impediments to democratization and reform has become a shared mantra of Western and domestic pundits alike. Whenever explaining the slow pace of Ukraine’s changes after the Euromaidan, analysts argue that oligarchs only gained influence and that by controlling whole chunks of the state...
Low Oil Prices Push Russian Budget Toward the Red
Despite talk of an oil producers’ pow-wow, Moscow seen as unlikely to join OPEC. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Russian Violation of Turkish Airspace ‘No Accident’: NATO
Analysts warn of Islamist backlash in the Russian homeland. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Why we shouldn’t let Russia fight the Islamic State
Donald Trump says: “Let [Russia] get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?” It is a fair question. What harm could come from letting Russian President Vladimir Putin take on this fight for us in Syria?The answer is: plenty.First, Russia is not fighting the Islamic State. According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Russian strikes have...
Post 2008: British Foreign Policy in an Age of Uncertainty
This is a transcript of a speech by Simon Fraser in which he reflects on his time as the Permanent Under-Secretary of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2010-2015) as well as what guidelines he believes should inform British foreign policy. More specifically, Fraser 1) provides a brief overview of the global situation facing the UK during...
Russian Propaganda, Disinformation, and Estonia’s Experience
This commentary examines the challenges to the international community arising from Russia’s use of information and psychological warfare. In particular, the author discusses 1) what psychological warfare is and why it is important to combat psychological attacks; 2) Russia’s concept of information security, which aims to protect...
Critical Belarusian News Sites Blocked
DDOS attack on independent media comes ahead of authoritarian leader’s near certain re-election. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Managed Nationalism: Contemporary Russian Nationalistic Movements and their Relationship to the Government
This paper examines the ideologies of nationalist movements in Russia as well as the relationship between these movements and the state. More specifically, the author 1) examines the nationalist Eurasian Youth Union and Russian March; 2) how these two groups responded to various events in the Ukraine crisis that began in 2013 and Russia’s...
OSCE Focus Conference Proceedings 2014
This paper presents the outcomes of the October 2014 OSCE Focus Conference held in Geneva on the Ukraine crisis that started in 2013, the conflict in the East of the country that began in 2014 and the implications of these issues for European security. More specifically, it includes articles on 1) the role of international organizations in...
Circassians Intensify Demands to Repatriate Co-Ethnics From Syria
The killing of a Circassian pre-teen, 11-year-old Judy Mohammed Hair Maf, in Damascus on September 26 (Facebook.com, September 26), revitalized efforts of Circassians in the North Caucasus to repatriate their ethnic brethren from Syria. Circassian activist Khazrial Khanakhok held a protest in Maikop, Adygea, to attract public attention to the...
