Section: News & Summaries
Snapshots of Ukraine’s Five Hottest Elections
Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to elect mayors and city councils. These local elections matter more than one might expect. The likely passage of a constitutional amendment on decentralization by parliament later this year will give the newly elected mayors and councils more autonomy and authority than ever before. …read more...
Ukraine’s New Police Are an Expression of a “Civil” State
Almost two years after the Euromaidan demonstrations began, most Ukrainians agree that the pace of reforms has been largely disappointing. While many former civil-society activists hold key positions in the government and parliament, corruption continues to plague the country and state institutions cannot provide basic services.Amid the...
A Bold and Optimistic Strategy for Europe
US President Barack Obama recently derided critics of his foreign policies as offering merely mumbo-jumbo. Yet everyone can plainly see the administration’s shocking degree of across-the-board strategic incomprehension and incompetence in Europe and the Middle East. In fact, European Union diplomats publicly admit that confidence in US...
Don’t trust Putin – Poroshenko
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned Monday he had no trust in Russia’s Vladimir Putin and urged the army to prepare “for the worst” despite a new truce in the separatist east. …read more Source:...
‘Europe’s last dictator’ wins 5th term
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term in office by a landslide. ||| Minsk – Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term in office by a landslide on Sunday in an election that could see an easing of relations with the West and raise questions about his ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia....
NATO reads the riot act to Russia
Jens Stoltenberg said NATO was ready to show resolve in the face of Russia’s growing military involvement in the Syria conflict. ||| Russia’s determination to prop up the regime of Bashar al-Assad with bombing raids on Syrian rebels triggered a response from NATO members on Thursday as the alliance pledged to double the size of its...
A Three-Pronged Strategy to Deal with Putin
Atlantic Council’s James L. Jones, Jr. recommends a toolkit that includes economic, political, and security components The United States must develop a three-pronged approach that includes economic, political, and security components to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “retrograde ambitions in favor of the peaceful and...
The Warrior President: Putin’s New Folly
Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign in Syria is a direct consequence of his failure in Ukraine. It is too early to assess whether Russia’s airstrikes will save the Assad regime, but they have given a new lease of life to the band of commentators whose fulminations pass for political discussion on Russian television. With the winding...
Presidents, the Pope and Putin: a Heady Mix at the 70th UNGA
The UN General Assembly’s annual meeting last month saw frosty and brief exchanges between the Russian and US Presidents, movement on the Sustainable Development goals, and encouraging talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iran. But Vladimir Putin sucked the oxygen out of the meeting, with his announcement about increased...
Unidentified Russian rocket system is near Mariupol in Ukraine
New @Aero_Dnipro1 drone image show DNR w/ an unidentified weapon. Possibly 9K52 Luna-M SR-Ballistic Missile? #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/eVdZQJgAXi — Silver Surfer (@RobPulseNews) October 7, 2015 Aero_Dnipro1 drone footage shows Russian tanks, armour, and unknown Russian rocket system, 30km from Mariupol, Ukraine. Possibly it is 9K52...