Latest Articles about Domestic/Social

Will Yanukovych’s Reform Plan Convince IMF?

Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, launched his long-awaited reform program with great fanfare, addressing the nation and parliamentarians from the lavish Soviet-style Ukraina palace in central Kyiv on June 3. The document, which details reform plans in the economic sector for 2010-2014, prepared with the help... MORE

Putin Grows Confident on the Comeback Trail

For most of last week Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, traveled to places he knows well and feels good about –Istanbul and Paris. These were neither tourist getaways nor business trips; he had plenty of delicate high-profile political matters to deal with, and none was more... MORE

More Presidential Candidates Selected in Belarus

Four new candidates have been chosen to run for the Belarusian presidency after congresses and meetings among some of the major opposition parties. They bring the number of declared and potential candidates to around fourteen, and reflect some of the differences and anxieties facing politicians... MORE

Kyrgyzstan Learns to Survive in Chaos

Amid corruption scandals and ongoing instability it is easy to write off Kyrgyzstan as a state destined to fail due to its dishonest political leaders and impoverished economy. However, despite the fact that the provisional government has not filled all its ministerial seats and faces... MORE

Berdimuhamedov’s Campaign for Political Pluralism and the Daikhan Party: Farmers of Turkmenistan Unite

Since Turkmenistan’s independence in 1991, the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (Turkmenistanyn Demokratik Partiyasy) and its corresponding Revival (Galkynysh) political movement have been the country’s only officially-registered political entities. Now, after three years in power, it appears that President, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, may at last be interested... MORE

First 100 Days of Viktor Yanukovych Explodes Six Myths

Viktor Yanukovych was elected on February 7 and inaugurated as Ukraine’s fourth president on February 25. June 5 marks his first 100 days in office.Yanukovych won the 2010 Ukrainian presidential elections by the lowest margin in Ukrainian history (3.5 percent, compared to the traditional 8... MORE

Georgia’s Political Landscape Reshaped After Local Elections

The Christian-Democrat Movement and the Alliance for Georgia laid a basis in recent local elections for the development of genuine opposition parties in Georgia. According to the final returns, these parties took the second and third place, with 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively, of... MORE

Georgia Returns to Stability and Growth After Local Elections

Candidates from Georgia’s governing party, the United National Movement (UNM), won the country-wide local elections on May 30, including the pivotal contest for the Tbilisi municipality, by large margins. The electoral process earned a positive net assessment from Western observers and also by the main... MORE