Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
Yushchenko Uses Security Service Against Former Orange Allies
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) is targeting the president’s former Orange ally, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT), as part of a strategy to undermine Tymoshenko’s popularity ahead of the January 2010 presidential elections. The campaign uses methods similar to those used by former President Leonid... MORE
Medvedev’s Speech Marked by Anti-Americanism and Comfort for the Bureaucracy
The presentation of President Dmitry Medvedev’s address to the Federal Assembly was grand and fascinating beyond the standards set by his predecessor Vladimir Putin, who humbly listened from the audience since, in contrast to the Soviet tradition, there was no presidium of dignitaries. Medvedev chose... MORE
The Demise of Murat Zyazikov
Ingushetia is celebrating. People in the streets are participating in folk dances to commemorate the resignation of the president of Republic of Ingushetia, Murat Zyazikov. On October 30, the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a decree on the dismissal of the Ingush... MORE
Will Yevkurov Follow the Chechen “Model” for Restoring Order?
In an article published in Gazeta on November 1, Sanobar Shermatova quoted an anonymous official who knows Yunus-Bek Yevkurov as saying that the colonel was appointed president of Ingushetia with the specific task of introducing order in the republic. The official also said that Ingushetia’s... MORE
Ingushetia’s Parliament Confirms New President
Ingushetia’s parliament on October 31 confirmed Yunus-Bek Yevkurov as the republic’s president, replacing Murat Zyazikov, who resigned the previous day (North Caucasus Weekly, October 31). According to Itar-Tass, 16 legislators out of the 18 who attended the session voted to confirm the 45-year-old colonel, while... MORE
Kyrgyz Government Reduces Rights of Religious Groups
On November 5 the Kyrgyz parliament agreed to increase the number of members required to register religious organizations from 10 to 200. According to the ruling Ak Zhol party, such measures were necessary to restrict the spread of religious extremism in the country and modify... MORE
Is Yushchenko’s Top Aide Backing Ruthenian Separatist Movement?
The leaders of Subcarpathian Ruthenians (pidkarpatski rusyny) have urged Kyiv to grant autonomous status to their native area, Ukraine’s westernmost Transcarpathian Region. There was no official reaction from the Ukrainian government, but several parties accused them of separatism; and a criminal investigation has been launched.... MORE
Hu’s New Deal and the Third Plenary Session of CCP’s 17th Central Committee
The just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 17th Central Committee has pledged a "new deal" with Chinese characteristics for the country’s 730 million-odd farmers through boosting their “material benefits and democratic rights.” The plenum communiqué promised that the party would raise... MORE
The Hu-Wen Leadership Battles “Warlords” over Economic Policies and Bureaucratic Reform
For the Hu Jintao-Wen Jiabao leadership, the party is pretty much over. After the coming-out extravaganza of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hoped to extend the festive mood through to late September for the launch of the country’s third manned space flight,... MORE
Media Control and the Erosion of an Accountable Party-State in China
In recent weeks, a scandal of international proportions involving the consumption of tainted Chinese milk has emerged beginning with the Sanlu Group extending out to include 22 producers of baby formula—among them China’s major dairy companies Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and Mengniu Dairy Company—impacted... MORE