Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Measuring Ukraine’s War on Corruption: Key Signs to Watch in Early 2015
As Ukraine’s new government has taken office and vows to clean up endemic corruption—publicly perceived as Europe’s worst, according to Transparency International—here are some leading indicators of its progress, as suggested by the Atlantic Council’s Kyiv-based senior fellow, Brian Mefford. You can find his full essay on this...
EU Slaps New Sanctions on Crimea, Might Drop Them for Yanukovych Cabal
Plus, Poland raises veto threat on UK immigration curbs, and the ruble’s tumble falls hard on Russia’s neighbors. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
US defense cuts may undermine security in Western Pacific
In its January 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance (DSG), the Obama Administration stated that the United States “will of necessity rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region.”1Yet one month later, the administration released its 2013 defense budget request, including $487 billion in cuts mandated under the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which provided...
The Lukashenka Code
Book excerpt: Why is the Belarusian leader so reviled in the West yet so firmly entrenched at home? …read more Source: Transitions Online...
What Does Russia Really Want in Iran?
Russian participation in the nuclear talks has demonstrated that despite the depth of the Ukrainian crisis and all the existing conflicts between Russia and the West, there are no reasons to consider Russia a purely destructive force that is bent on harming the West. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Serbia Readies for OSCE Role With Russian Visit
Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, will travel to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart and discuss Ukraine on the eve of Serbia assuming the presidency of the OSCE. …read more Source: Balkan...
The shadow economy in Ukraine is now about 50% of the total
Millions of Ukrainians are confronted with mounting hardships this coming winter as the 8-month-old conflict with Russia-backed separatists drains the treasury of $5 million a day, corruption continues to deprive government coffers of badly needed tax revenue and Russia has canceled energy subsidies that made home heating affordable before...
From Chechnya to Ukraine
December 11 marked the twentieth anniversary of the First Chechen War, which largely defined modern Russia’s path of development. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, that war was caused by the same factor that led to today’s Ukrainian conflict: the conviction of those raised by the Communist nomenklatura and the KGB that laws...
Eastern Ukraine: A Dangerous Winter
Winter in Ukraine is injecting further uncertainty into an already volatile conflict. After well over 5,000 deaths and eight months of war, eastern Ukraine – particularly the separatist-held parts of Donetsk and Luhansk – now runs the risk of a humanitarian crisis. All parties involved in the conflict should refrain from offensive operations,...
Putin Calls for ‘Political’ Solution in Ukraine, China Pledges Billions for Southeast Europe
Plus, Belarus-Russian squabble over food ban could end soon; Russian sailors training in France set for return home. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
