Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Working Groups on Ukraine: Tentacles of the Minsk Process
A new format of negotiations between the Ukrainian government and the Moscow-controlled “people’s republics” began operating on May 14 in Minsk (Osce.org, Interfax, Ukrinform, May 14). Four specialized Working Groups have now been launched, with a view to implementing the military, political, economic, and humanitarian clauses of the...
Boris Nemtsov’s Report on Russian War in Ukraine Is Published
The report “Putin. War” (“Putin. Voina”)—a summary of evidence of the involvement of the Russian military in the annexation of Crimea and in fighting in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas (encompassing Donetsk and Luhansk provinces)—was published and presented in Moscow this week (May 12). The report commemorates the late Boris Nemtsov (55),...
Belarus’s Rapprochement With the West and the Zero-Sum Fallacy
On May 7, Belarus’s national ice hockey team beat the United States for the first time, netting a 5–2 win at the world championship in Prague (BELTA, May 8). Hardly any piece of news pleased Belarusians more than this one. Yet, one may also recall that Belarus’s hockey team is trained by Dave Lewis, the former Detroit Red Wings coach...
Italy Caught in Ukrainian Dilemma
Pressed by economic and geopolitical imperatives, Italy is trying to carve out its own diplomatic space over the crisis in Ukraine, in an apparent attempt at fostering a rapprochement between the European Union and Russia. The Russian annexation of the Ukrainian autonomous region of Crimea in March 2014, as well as the Kremlin’s ensuing...
Kazakhstan’s Presidential Election and the Challenges Ahead (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The re-election of President Nursultan Nazarbayev (see EDM, April 30, May 8) has renewed and bolstered the presidential institution’s popular mandate to tackle the urgent challenges confronting Kazakhstan. Some of these challenges are recurrent, but for the most part they are novel. Authorities in...
Moscow Signals Terek Cossacks Have Been Ineffective Tool for Controlling North Caucasus
On April 25, after months of public scandals and brawls, the Terek Cossacks elected a new ataman (chieftain). The Cossacks confirmed the only candidate for the position, Alexander Zhuravsky, as the new head of the Terek Cossack Force. The election of the new ataman was carried out against Cossack traditions, without alternative candidates or...
After the Swaggering Celebrations, a ‘Now What?’ Moment for Russia
The Victory Day parade on the Red Square in Moscow last Saturday (May 9) was a glorious and perfectly smooth affair, which duly filled the hearts of millions of Russians with habitual pride for the military might of the country. President Vladimir Putin basked in the role of Commander-in-Chief but was unusually soft in his address, mentioning...
St. George’s Ribbons and Their Dubious Symbolism in Post-Soviet Central Asia
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Uzbekistan has announced that between April 27 and May 8, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, embassy staff would distribute free “ribbons of St. George” to the local population (Russia.uz, April 15). The Russian...
Victory Day Frenzy Peaks in Moscow
Preparations for the May 9 Victory Day ceremonies and military parade in Moscow have the city on edge. Repeated real-time rehearsals have been blocking traffic as armor and troop formations march time and again through downtown streets to Red Square and back again. The first workweek of May is shortened in Russia, with May 1 and May 9 being...
Circassian Activists Divided on What Best Serves Circassian Interests
Authorities in Kabardino-Balkaria have launched a campaign to give the Ubykhs, a Circassian sub-ethnic group, official small indigenous group status. That special status would allow the Ubykhs to claim many benefits from the Russian government, including property rights in Russia’s Krasnodar region, the homeland the Ubykhs lost in the...
