*To read Part One, please click here. Moldova’s new electoral legislation—“Law for Amending and Completing Certain Legislative Acts [i.e. the Electoral Code]”—is the outcome of a bargain between the country’s de facto leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, who controls the state apparatus, and the pro forma head... MORE

On July 20, Moldova’s parliament changed the country’s Electoral Code, with an eye to the 2018 parliamentary elections. The new legislation—the “Law for Amending and Completing Certain Legislative Acts [i.e. the Electoral Code]”—also applies to future presidential elections and future referendums (Moldpres, July 20, 21;... MORE

Since the end of the Soviet system, the greatest source of conflicts in the North Caucasus has been neither Islamism nor nationalism but rather property—over who controls this or that piece of land. The collapse of industry in the cities only intensified this problem in... MORE

Even by the standards of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the brutal treatment of China’s first Nobel Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo, has breached the norms of civilized behavior. The third day after Liu‘s death from liver cancer—which deteriorated into the terminal stage last June largely... MORE

Belarus’s independent voice is growing louder. On June 27, the Belarusian embassy to the United States organized a reception on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. More than 100 American guests participated in the reception, including Deputy Assistant... MORE

The behavior of the Russian authorities can routinely be described as “mirroring.” If the United States accuses Russia of intervening in last year’s presidential election, the Kremlin responds that Moscow had nothing to do with it and, on the contrary, other countries are interfering in... MORE

Researchers from Moscow’s prestigious Higher School of Economics have found that a third of Russia’s unemployed youth today have advanced degrees or have completed other tertiary education. According to their recently published report, “The Russian Labor Market: Trends, Institutions, and Structural Changes,” the share of... MORE

The State Duma of the Russian Federation passed an amendment to its citizenship laws, on July 12, easing the procedure for Ukrainians to acquire Russian citizenship. According to the new amendment, those wishing to acquire Russian citizenship would no longer need to provide Russian authorities... MORE

Vladimir Putin has slammed the brakes on a much-ballyhooed Duma proposal to offer Ukrainians in the occupied Donbas region Russian citizenship on a simplified basis (Kommersant, July 18). Almost certainly, the initiative was abandoned because if these individuals were to obtain that status—as the residents... MORE

Joining the list of autonomist movements in at least 19 other European countries, the Szekler community in southeastern Transylvania has ignited an ethno-political brushfire in Romania. According to the “Petition on the Day of Szekler Freedom,” the group demands territorial autonomy and “full and effective... MORE