Europe & Eurasia

Stanford Cultivates the Next Generation of Ukrainian Leaders

By Sasha Jason

Even within Ukraine’s embattled political sphere, a new generation of leaders is still inspiring change. Stanford University intends to harness this energy through its Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program, a new program for mid-career professionals to study at Stanford for an academic year. Olexandr Starodubtsev, Oleksandra Matviichuk, and Dmytro Romanovych were inducted as the first members […]

RT: A Low-Grade Platform for Useful Idiots

By Monika L. Richter

RT is coming under increasing scrutiny for its role in the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign against the West. The US Justice Department is allegedly requesting that individuals associated with the network’s US branch, RT America, register as foreign agents. Nascent Congressional efforts to investigate and counter the Kremlin’s influence operations have also targeted RT. These are […]

Ukraine Will Pursue Hard Reforms This Fall, Finance Minister Says

After a week of back-to-back meetings in Washington, Oleksandr Danylyuk is tired. He gladly downs a cup of coffee before we turn on our microphones to discuss Ukraine’s economy. The affable forty-two-year old finance minister is one of the few reformers left in Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers and has a reputation as a doer. He’s […]

What’s Holding Ukraine Back Isn’t What You Think It Is

By Olena Tregub

President Petro Poroshenko has just done an about-face. On October 4, Poroshenko announced that he supports the creation of a specialized high anticorruption court, and that he soon will submit a draft law marked “urgent” for the court’s creation. However, the president suggested the creation of a multiparty parliamentary working group to develop such a […]

The UK’s balancing act between security, financial interest, and human rights

By Dalia Rabie

The United Kingdom has long employed a carrot and stick technique when dealing with Egypt, threatening to suspend aid and economic or military dealings in response to the country’s deteriorating human rights situation. However, such ultimatums are often fleeting, as the UK government places its own short-term interests over improvements in Egypt’s human rights record. […]

How to Continue the Revolution of Dignity

By Diane Francis

Ukraine’s halting but steady climb toward becoming a just and smart European nation will take a giant leap forward if major health care reforms are adopted this week. Health care is always a contentious issue in any country and one need only look at the United States as an example. But Ukraine’s corrupt, Soviet system […]