Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Russians are starved of alternative viewpoints by their media’s united anti-Western front
When Russia ignored a British government ultimatum to explain whether it was involved in the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, Theresa May quickly announced a set of measures in retaliation. These include expelling 23 intelligence officers, the freezing of Russian state assets, and a government...
Blaming Russia for Skripal Attack is Similar to ‘Jews Poisoning our Wells’ in Middle Ages
Congratulations to Craig Murray for getting there first. The colorful former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, turned anti-establishment dissident after he was sacked from the Foreign Office in 2004, has published on his blog some key texts by authoritative scientists which cast serious doubt on the British government’s claims about what...
Donbas Diplomacy: Ukraine Bides Its Time
The Minsk agreements are not dead, nor is the conflict in Donbas frozen. Despite a recent diplomatic push, and given the lack of trust between Russia and the United States, and Ukraine’s resistance to the Minsk accords, the status quo is for the time being an acceptable option for all sides. Mired in the upcoming election cycle in 2019,...
Unintended Consequences of Sanctions on Russia
Russian soldiers without insignia – “little green men” – in Simferopol on Crimean peninsula, photo by Anton Holoborodko via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 770, March 16, 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the downing of a civilian aircraft, and the Russian military aggression in...
Russia uses loyal ‘observers’ and repression for illegal elections in occupied Crimea
As expected, Russia has invited unwavering supporters from different countries to act as supposed ‘observers’ of the presidential elections which it is illegally holding in occupied Crimea. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
When States Kill
There can be no doubt who poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on 4 March. The interesting question is why. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Political Shenanigans to the End: Ukraine’s Parliament elects their own MP as ‘Human Rights Ombudsman’
“The Ombudsman is not a commodity and parliament is not a bazaar!”. That was the message from Ukrainian rights activists this week, and one that Ukraine’s parliamentarians have now ignored. On March 15, a politician was elected to the post by her colleagues through procedure in open breach of the Law on the Human Rights Ombudsperson...
The Byzantine history of Putin’s Russian empire
Russian athletes were conspicuous in their neutral colours during this year’s Winter Olympics and Paralympics due to a ban based on doping allegations. In Vancouver in 2010 and in Sochi in 2014, however, Russia’s Olympic hockey jerseys prominently featured a two-headed eagle exactly where Canada’s jerseys highlighted the maple...
The Balkans’ unravelling peace
It was not that long ago, well into the late 2000s in fact, that the complex network of internationally brokered peace agreements that pacified the Western Balkans in the wake of the 1991-2001 Yugoslav wars were held up as hallmarks of post-Cold War diplomacy. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Dayton peace accords, in particular, were regularly...
Watch List: March 15, 2018
The items listed below represent potential emerging issues that our analysts are tracking. These can be long term or short term, but will be updated daily. If an item on our Watch List becomes critical, we will email you a full analysis explaining its significance. Each Saturday, we will follow up our daily Watch List for each week with our...
