Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Moldovan Anti-Government Protests Unify Pro-Western, Pro-Russia Groups Across Ethnic Lines
From January 20 through 24, tens of thousands of angry protesters rallied in Chisinau each day in -10° C (14° Fahrenheit) temperature to demand the resignation of the just-installed government, dissolution of the parliament—both institutions are now controlled by the billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc—and new parliamentary elections. The atmosphere...
The Russian Public Seems to be Less Receptive to Hate Propaganda
Low oil and commodity prices have crippled the Russian economy, caused a massive devaluation of the ruble and a contraction of government budget expenditures. At a conference of the All-Russian Peoples Front (VNF—Vserossiysky Narodni Front—a pro-Kremlin populist organization) in Stavropol in the North Caucasus this week a woman from North Ossetia...
Bypassing Russia, Ukraine Becomes Another “Silk Road” Terminus
Since an uprising unseated the pro-Russian regime of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, relations between Kyiv and Moscow have gone from bad to worse. Responding to a recent ban of Ukrainian imports and seeking a way to reach post-Soviet Central Asian states and East Asia without transiting Russia, on January 15 Ukraine...
Moscow Shifting from Direct Aggression to Building a Fifth Column in Ukraine
Given Moscow’s desire to get out from under the sanctions regime and the almost equal desire of some Western governments to declare victory and lift it, the Kremlin appears likely to do just enough to claim that it has fulfilled the Minsk Accords and the West to accept that as sufficient to end the Ukrainian crisis. In that event, it is a...
Russia’s Air Operations in Syria Expose Problems
Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine and Syria expose a fundamental distinction in approach: trying to extract itself from the former while showing no sign of applying that strategy to the latter. Officially, an “all is well” message is promulgated by the Russian political-military leadership concerning the air campaign in Syria. Perhaps...
It is Indecision Time for Putin, as Russia Muddles Down Ungoverned
The annual Davos gathering of the World Economic Forum used to be an occasion where Russia’s always uncertain future was a key topic for debates and investment decisions, but this year it was pointedly ignored. Russia is indeed irrelevant for the main theme of this Forum—the “fourth industrial revolution”, in which information and...
Belarus and the West: A Policy Change Long Overdue
Two recent public opinion polls have highlighted quite revealing results about populations living in Belarus and Ukraine. First, according to the Ukrainian polling firm Rating, the opinions of Ukrainians about Belarus are overwhelmingly positive. In the separatist areas of Donbas (the eastern Ukrainian region encompassing the Donetsk and Luhansk...
Donbas Fields Have Frozen Over, but for Now the Ceasefire Holds
One year ago, bloody battles raged throughout the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. The traditional autumn “rasputitsa” (mud season) usually ends by January: The dirt freezes, allowing trucks, troops and heavy military equipment to maneuver through fields and use unpaved roads. By mid-January 2015, the Donbas separatist forces—armed, trained,...
Putin Aide Surkov Pressures Abkhazia Into Joining Russian Sanctions Against Turkey
On January 12, the government of Abkhazia published a statement that paves the way for the breakaway Georgian region to join Russian sanctions against Turkey. The move further reduces Abkhazia’s political autonomy and pushes it into Moscow’s arms. Bilateral trade between Abkhazia and Turkey in 2014 was estimated to be $200 million,...
Trade War With Russia Prompts Ukraine to Look for New Markets, Transit Routes
Moscow is openly unhappy with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which came into effect starting on January 1, 2016. Consequently, Russia has slapped an embargo on Ukrainian food and complicated the transit of Ukrainian goods across Russian territory. Ukraine responded with similar...
