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,” […]
A few short weeks ago, a shipment of S-400 missiles from Russia to China were lost at sea. While the shipment was replaced and likely covered by some type of insurance, the notable issue should be that S-400 missiles are now being exported outside of Russia. The export of the older S-300 system was always […]
The US’s Baltic and Adriatic Charters could become templates for embedding Ukraine and Georgia as well as, perhaps, Moldova and Azerbaijan into a provisional multilateral security structure. By Iryna Vereshchuk and Andreas Umland It is remarkable how strongly some international organizations’ coverage of the East-Central European and South Caucasian post-Soviet space has come to […]
Four factors make further tensions between Russia and Ukraine along the shores of the Crimean peninsula and Azov Sea probable. On 25 November 2018, at the Kerch Strait, Russia attacked as well as captured three Ukrainian navy vessels, and arrested their 24 sailors. The maritime clash indicates that the focal point of the […]
