Category: Blogs

Russia and Turkey: Rapprochement and Its Implications

By John E. Herbst

The rapprochement between Russia and Turkey is a significant geopolitical development that increases the leverage of each nation. Where the interests of Moscow and Ankara do not conflict, their new relationship will be useful to both. Yet their different interests limit the significance of the new amity.

Future Tense: Karimov’s Bitter Legacy in Uzbekistan

By Sabine Freizer

On September 1, Uzbekistan will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary of independence, but for the first time without its long-time president, Islam Abduganievich Karimov leading the dancing and music-filled celebrations in the capital Tashkent. Karimov suffered a stroke on August 27 and it is most likely that the seventy-eight-year-old, who was already in poor health, has […]

France, Germany, and Poland Call for a European Security Council

By Germany's Federal Office

We want to strengthen the European Union and the foundations of European integration by proving its ability to act….

Vershbow: Russia’s Snap Military Exercises Straining Relations With NATO

By AP

Russia is increasingly conducting unannounced military exercises, straining its relationship with NATO, the alliance’s No. 2 official said Monday.

TTIP&TRADE in Action – September 1, 2016

By Global Business & Economics Program

Aleppo’s Deteriorating Medical Sector

By Hosam al-Jablawi

July witnessed the most extensive attacks on Syrian health facilities, most of which were located in opposition-held areas of Aleppo and Idlib provinces. The Syrian Network for Human Rights announced in a recent report that 24 hospitals and 26 ambulances had been destroyed and four medical personnel killed in one month, constituting a significant threat […]

Lessons from Colombia’s Peace Process

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Colombia’s government and the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on August 25 finalized a deal that ends fifty-two years of conflict. A bilateral ceasefire went into effect on August 29. More than 220,000 people have been killed and six million displaced by the armed conflict. The deal will be put […]

A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories

By Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

In Crimea, eastern Ukraine and now Syria, Mr. Putin has flaunted a modernized and more muscular military.

Have Ukraine’s Reforms Stalled?

By Anders Åslund

Few Ukrainians realize how impressive their economic reforms were in 2015. The question today is whether that reform wave will continue, or has come to a halt. The slashing of energy subsidies by 10 percent of GDP by unifying energy prices from 2014 to 2016 was most important. As a consequence, Ukraine’s public expenditures fell […]

E-Declaration—and Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Strategy—in Jeopardy

By Josh Cohen

A key element of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agenda is at a crossroads—and whether it is implemented on August 31 will indicate Kyiv’s commitment to reform. In October 2014, a new law requiring Ukrainian public officials to file an electronic declaration disclosing all of their financial assets was passed by parliament. This e-declaration law mandates that officials […]