Europe & Eurasia

Russia Bans Freedom to Report, Says Top Investigative Journalist

By Melinda Haring

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has banned US investigative journalist Simon Ostrovsky from working in Russia. On June 4, it denied a press visa for Ostrovsky, an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist best known for his coverage of the Ukraine crisis for VICE News.

After Ukraine, NATO’s Chance for a New Normal

By Derek Chollet, Defense One

NATO’s responses over the last year have been reactive and by definition (when measured by budgets) temporary.

NATO Spending Less on Defense, Despite Russian Threat

By Kedar Pavgi, Defense One

The alliance’s easternmost members are ratcheting up their budgets as Russian threats loom.

Mac Thornberry Warns of Growing Threats in Face of Likely Obama Defense Bill Veto

Mac Thornberry, the new Chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, accused President Barack Obama on June 23 of “holding hostage” the nation’s security by threatening to veto the annual defense appropriations bill, which passed the Senate on June 18 by seventy-one to twenty-five with “overwhelming bipartisan support.” Thornberry (R-TX), said the $612 billion […]

Here’s How to Crowdsource Ukrainian Language and Culture

By Matthew Kupfer

On a scorching Saturday afternoon in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, a group of five young people take refuge in a cool alcove hidden at the back of the Ivan Honchar Museum for a free Ukrainian class. Together, for ninety minutes, they discuss that week’s subject, studentstvo (“student life”), learning new Ukrainian words to describe […]

Secretary of Defense Carter: US and NATO Will Counter Russia’s ‘Efforts to Undermine Strategic Stability’

By Ashton Carter, Department of Defense

At a time when some have suggested our relationship is suffering from a crisis and others have questioned the staying power of our partnership, we know better.