The Russia-controlled East Ukrainian separatists have been operating a small concentration camp in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, for more than six years now. Outside any regular jurisdiction, men and women are being physically and psychologically tormented on a daily basis, in ways reminiscent of Europe’s darkest times.
Whether it be the conflict in Syria, skirmishes in Crimea, Ukraine and Chechnya or the recent outbreak of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the old disputes that were never fully resolved have often broken out into armed conflict since the end of the Soviet Union. While the Soviet regime often created some detente between conflicting […]
The enormous financial means that West Germany is still transferring to East Germany, 30 years after re-unification, suggest that Moscow’s grab of Crimea in 2014 has been an ill-calculated adventure. Sustaining over a long period of time the highly-subsidised economy of the annexed peninsula will be beyond the capacities of a more and more crisis-ridden […]
The Cold War dominated most of the pre-2000 era and formed much of the existing world order we live in currently. It made for a black and white vision for conflict in much of the developing world, seen from the point of view by a developed world that took the “us vs. them” perspective. It […]
Back in the 1980s there was the impression that technology and the United States could do anything. President Reagan announced at the time that the United States was developing a laser based anti-ballistic missile system that would be able to concentrate light energy onto a moving target in orbit and destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) […]
Seeking to merely “contain” Putin is not enough. We have been outplayed, outsmarted and outmaneuvered in Europe, the Middle East, Venezuela, Africa and the Arctic. And at home. Point by point “cost imposing” measures against Russia have not worked. And simply repeating the pattern of reacting, deterring, responding, defending will not work. Moscow–minimally as a […]
What He Doesn’t Want Us to Know About the “Great Patriotic War“ Avoidance, lies and accusations–somersaulting history–have undergirded Moscow’s aggression for centuries. Western ignorance, naivete and credulity have multiplied that asset, allowing Russia to enrich the former to weapons grade. In Nezavisimaya newspaper earlier this year, Putin advisor Vladislav Surkov wrote expansively of Russia’s success […]
By Tamar Chapidze and Andreas Umland Over the last two decades, Georgia and Ukraine have become close geopolitical allies vis-à-vis both Russia and the West. In 1997, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova created between themselves a multilateral consultative forum that, in 2001, was upgraded into the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, better known […]
How post-imperial democracies die: A comparison of #WeimarGermany and post-Soviet #Russia. With Steffen Kailitz of the HAIT @TUDresden_DE and @DVPW_Vergleich in @Elsevier‘s “#Communist and Post-Communist Studies” #politics#politicalscience#democratization academia.edu link Researchgate.net link Sciencedirect.com link While socioeconomic crisis – like in Germany after World War I and in Russia after the Cold War – is a necessary […]
Five years into operation and two years into its 24/7 radio broadcast in Washington, what’s Kremlin-sponsored radio talking about? I listened for a month to find out. Of three main areas discussed on Sputnik Radio – the United States, U.S. foreign policy, and Russia/Putin – there is fairly little discussion of Russia/Putin. With a studio […]
Although education in Russia remains a politicized area that is subjected tocovert and never-ending ideological skirmishes, some state policies turned out to be efficient. The stable rate of improvements throughout international rankings, however, might not stay for long, as the sphere still requires drastic reforms that are not coming at any time soon. According to […]
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, George Schultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn argued for “a world without nuclear weapons, [as] dangers continue to mount.” Lamenting “a dangerous policy paralysis” among the US, its allies and Russia, they write that the road to denuclearization is through “re-engagement” with Russia, a “joint declaration,” and “dialogue,” […]
