Crimea, which had almost faded from the global political agenda following Russia’s ensuing military operations, first in Eastern Ukraine and then in Syria, has again reemerged in the headlines. Despite the Russian occupation, the annexed peninsula continued to receive all its critical goods, services and... MORE

Now may be the last chance to stop corruption from eroding the foundations of the Ukrainian state, the United States’ Vice President Joe Biden told local politicians during his visit to Kyiv on December 6–8. Addressing the Ukrainian parliament on December 8, he warned against... MORE

The Islamist terrorist assault in Paris on November 13, traced in part to the Syria crisis, has conclusively broken what the Barack Obama administration had claimed to be Russia’s international isolation over its aggression in Ukraine. The Paris attack was the turning point in a... MORE

Russia is angling for recognition as the West’s ally in combating “international terrorism.” This, ostensibly, is the rationale of Russia’s military intervention in Syria—an operation made possible by the forfeiture of the Pax Americana in the Middle East, with ripple effects now engulfing Europe. The... MORE

After several weeks of ostensible silence, discussions over a potential Russian airbase in Belarus have taken on new vigor. As early as September, President Vladimir Putin of Russia asked his government to sign the airbase agreement with Belarus. The initial public reaction of Putin’s Belarusian... MORE

The bombshell of late November was the postponement of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s visit to Moscow, where he was supposed to have met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The official reason given—that both sides were too busy to meet—is rather dubious. Indeed, Putin’s schedule... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The latest public opinion survey, commissioned by the US International Republican Institute (IRI), confirms a deepening chasm between the “pro-Europe” coalition government and voters in Moldova (Infotag, Unimedia, IPN, November 10). The coalition’s three parties (the Liberal-Democrat Party... MORE

Moldova’s internal collapse is, at last, concentrating the West’s attention. Western officials are generally surprised and aghast. They worry, moreover, about the potential repercussions in the region: Moldova does, after all, account for a 700-kilometer stretch of the Baltic-Pontic isthmus. Blindsided by the “Moldovan success... MORE

Two foremost Belarusian opposition-minded political analysts, Yury Drakakhrust of Radio Liberty and Tut.by along with Alexander Klaskovsky of Belarus’s non-state press agency BelaPan, recently published thought-provoking articles about the potential impact on Belarus of the November 13 “black Friday” terrorist attack (BFTA) in Paris. Both... MORE

The Ukrainian national oil and gas company, Naftohaz Ukrainy, plans to sue Russia over the assets lost in Crimea following the peninsula’s annexation by Russia last year, Naftohaz CEO Andry Kobolev said on November 4 (Interfax, November 4). The seizure by Russia of Chornomornaftohaz, Naftohaz’s... MORE