As in Europe, scepticism towards regional integration is on the rise in Kazakhstan. And just like the Old Continent, Astana is learning to play this to its advantage…
China is already sitting in Russia’s backyard. Perhaps this might encourage the EU to try a little harder with its Eastern Partnership.
Ukrainians may have had high expectations, but the unpleasant truth is that the EU has offered them more than it can deliver.
It is commonly assumed that the main economic challenge facing Ukraine is its dependence on energy supplies, especially natural gas, imported from Russia. But that is only half the story…
The issue of language and politics has long been a problem in Ukraine. Recent developments and unrelenting Russian propaganda have made the problem centre-stage once more.
Ukraine is a state in political turmoil. But how much of this is the fault of separatists in the east and how much comes from 'business-as-usual' corruption from the Kyiv government?
In Russian, Krymsk and Krym (Crimea) sound quite similar. They also share double standards – as some residents of the Kuban region have discovered. на русском языке
Direct aid givers, civic activists, and political activists spend as much time arguing amongst themselves as they do building civil society. With such divisions, it is clear that bridges need to be built not only between civil society and the state.
A summary of the results of the recent Salzburg Global Seminar ‘Russian Civil Society Symposium: Building Bridges to the Future’ is simple: no easy answers, more questions. But that does not mean it was a failure.
What President Putin has been pursuing during his months-long battle against Ukraine’s economy and society is the semi-collapse and semi-implosion of the Ukrainian state. But at what cost?
Crimean Tatar leaders are vehemently against a return to Russian rule. But why, when so often they have been at odds with the Ukrainian Government?
Since the 19th century the Caucasus has been Russian’s ‘window on the East,’ its access to another, often very romanticised world. The Sochi Winter Olympics took place in the Caucasus, but they presented a less complex image.
