In the past week, 83 journalists from 73 different Russian media outlets visited Belarus. They hailed from 48 regions of Russia and were given a tour of enterprises and collective farms in Hrodna and Mahileu oblasts. At the end of the tour they were invited... MORE

President Viktor Yushchenko is slowly coming to the realization that he has to co-exist with a disobedient prime minister that he cannot dismiss. This is a consequence of the constitutional reform that came into effect this year, curtailing presidential powers, and of the Yushchenko faction’s... MORE

Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent September 11 threat to France, coupled with al-Qaeda's official integration with the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), is significant for two principal reasons. First, from al-Qaeda's perspective, it is a formal alliance with an "out-of-area" Islamist group... MORE

Operating through coalition mechanisms that President Viktor Yushchenko has helped create, the Party of Regions is de facto appropriating the president’s formal authority to shape foreign policy. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s September 13-14 announcements in Brussels, unilaterally turning down a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP)... MORE

The accustomed division of prerogatives in Ukraine, whereby the president handles foreign policy while the prime minister oversees the economy, is no longer operational. The constitutional reform has shifted the balance of power in prime minister’s favor. By turning down a NATO-Ukraine Membership Action Plan,... MORE

A growing number of French citizens fear that France faces "a Muslim problem." The global ravages of Denmark's cartoon jihad, triggered by offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist and lecher, coupled with the recent alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners have... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych clearly exceeded the powers of his office, breached internal governmental procedures, and undoubtedly usurped the presidency’s constitutional authority by announcing in Brussels that Ukraine is opting out of NATO’s Membership Action Plan. Shocked, President Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters in... MORE

President Viktor Yushchenko’s camp has reacted to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s September 14 statement to the effect that Ukraine is not ready for a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) with ostentatious indignation. Yanukovych has been accused of violating inter-party accords and spoiling Ukraine’s chance to... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed rare praise on Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for agreeing to the gas deals with Gazprom and RosUkrEnergo. Addressing an audience of prominent Western experts at Novo-Ogarevo for the latest Valdai Discussion Club meeting, Putin said of Yushchenko, “He was... MORE