By Taras KuzioUkraine’s “political technologists” have little in common with European and US political scientists and political consultants. The catastrophic state of political science in the Ukrainian education system has, for a decade now, made it nearly impossible to buy books on Ukrainian politics, and... MORE

By Sergei BlagovRussian authorities hinted at a possible end to the natural gas export monopoly, which currently belongs to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. Meanwhile, the country’s energy executives urged the development of shale gas production in Russia. On November 20, the Russian energy ministry indicated... MORE

By Taras KuzioThe run up to Ukraine’s October 28 parliamentary elections received relatively little coverage and interest in the US, Canadian and European media except over the question of their conduct and expected election fraud. Leaders of international organizations raised many doubts before the election... MORE

By Sergei BlagovRussia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom has repeatedly pledged to start natural gas exports to China. However, these plans have remained on paper, despite numerous promises to the contrary. On October 25, Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky announced that yet another round of... MORE

By Matthew CzekajThe Polish press has taken to calling it “the unsinkable” [link in Polish] ship. After months of uncertainty, the advanced “Gawron” naval vessel, which was being constructed at the Gdynia Naval Shipyard, may yet sail under the Polish standard after all—albeit under a... MORE

By Sergei BlagovBelarus’s leader has accused Russian tycoons of plotting to bribe him, and the accusations came as the latest twist in bilateral efforts to forge new potash business ventures.On October 16, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka made a highly unusual claim that he was offered... MORE

By Sergei BlagovDuring a meeting in Moscow on October 9, President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev hailed their countries’ bilateral investment cooperation. Nazarbayev, who traveled to Moscow to mark the 20thanniversary of the bilateral friendship treaty, said that Russian businesses invested in... MORE

By Fuad HuseinzadehThe reconstructed airport of so-called Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi, in Azeri version), was officially launched on Monday, September 1, the Haykakan Zhamanak paper reports, citing Dmitry Abashyan, the head of the “country’s” General Department of Civil Aviation (GDCA)(https://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/10/02/chvert/?sw). The airport was built in... MORE

By Valery DzutsevOn August 9, deputy mayor of the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt, Salimkhan Jamaldinov, was fired for his son’s involvement in the insurgency. Earlier on August 7, law enforcement cornered a group of suspected rebels in a private house in Khasavyurt. After lengthy negotiations,... MORE

By Taras KuzioOn July 4, a new law on languages was adopted in its second reading amid massive infringements of parliamentary procedures (see analysis of the transcript at https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/07/5/6968170/). Over 200 changes proposed by opposition deputies were ignored.Parliamentary Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn “resigned” in what most... MORE