Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Putin’s best EU friends
Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is trying to have it both ways.Just days after attending the G7 summit, which highlighted the possibility of stepping up sanctions against Russia should it not meet the commitments it made in the Minsk agreements, Renzi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Milan, where he spoke of the “traditional...
The Muddled Thinking at the G-7 Only Encourages Putin
Leaders at the recent G-7 summit reaffirmed their commitment to keeping sanctions on Russia in place. They also agreed that sanctions will likely be extended until 2016 because Russia has failed to implement the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. But the summit ended on a disappointing note: The summit communiqué and all the G-7 leaders indicated that...
Ukraine Finance Minister Says Economic Success Is Key To Ending Conflict
When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, you could say that in some ways, Natalie Jaresko is on the frontlines. She’s the country’s finance minister, and she argues that Ukraine’s economic success is the only way to end the war fueled by Russia in the east of the country. NPR’s Michele Kelemen caught up with her during...
Bringing Belarus Back in From the Cold (Part Three)
To read Part One, please click here.To read Part Two, please click here. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s policy is one of benevolent neutrality sympathetic toward Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Belarus’s diplomacy and its trade policies tilt in Ukraine’s favor to the extent possible without antagonizing Russia (see...
Russia Shutters Northern Distribution Network
On May 15, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev issued a resolution closing the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a network of rail and road links across Russia and the post-Soviet space that had provided logistical transit to Afghanistan for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) military equipment and weapons since 2008 (Moskovsky...
Celebrating Russia Day, the Country Finds Itself With No Future
The meaning of Russia Day, the holiday celebrated last Friday, June 12, remains obscure and even foreign for the majority of Russians. Overall, the population has mixed feelings about the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was precipitated by the declaration of state sovereignty of the Russian Federation (commemorated by Russia Day) and the...
Dangers of a Declining Global Power
Much has been written about the dangers and challenges posed by China as a rising global power. Indeed, historians speak of generic tensions between rising powers and status quo powers that have often led to war. But instability takes at least two players to create it: the rising power and the resistance of the once-reigning power. Today the US...
Recent Syrian Rebel Gains Result From US Support Of Extremists
The rebel opposition in Syria has in recent months made a series of gains against the Syrian army, most notably in Idlib, Palmyra, and Ramadi in Iraq. However, given that from the very beginning the opposition had taken “a clear sectarian direction” and has been dominated by “ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra … in addition to other extreme jihadi groups,”...
Why would the president threaten to veto much-needed additional defense funds?
A showdown is looming in Washington over the National Defense Authorization bill and the Appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. At stake is whether the Congress is able to make any progress this year on repairing the damage which defense cuts have done to the armed forces and the nation’s security.The Budget Control Act of 2011,...
Activist Flees Baku for Switzerland Refuge, Moldova Voters Remain Split
Plus, Saakashvili is poised to make big cuts in Odessa and the UN leader talks human rights in Central Asia. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
