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Putin’s political triumph - but economic impasse
Global attention is focused on Russia’s hosting of the Winter Olympics, a PR coup for President Putin. But all is not well on the economic front and the scenario the Russian government will probably...
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The heavyweight guide to Ukraine
Don't know your Klitschko from your Titushki? Can’t remember which oligarch is which? What or who is a ‘Maidan?’ With our heavyweight guide, you won’t have to buy the next round…Ukraine – Not ‘The...
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Operation MBK
How does one explain Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky’s (MBK) unexpected release from prison? President Putin no longer sees him as a threat? President Putin is losing his grip? No, Operation MBK was a classic...
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Russia and the Holocaust – whose genocide was it anyway?
27 January, anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, is widely marked as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but Russia pays little attention to it. Why in a country so...
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Maidan on wheels
Euromaidan in Ukraine has produced another protest movement – Automaidan. It has picked up so much speed that the government is doing everything it can to put the brakes on…The message seemed real...
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Yanukovych v Klitschko – round four
Negotiations between the Ukrainian Government and the Opposition have been through several rounds. The recent repeal of the hated new laws and the resignation of the government may have gone some way...
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Return of the Empire
At the end of 2013 veteran US statesman Zbigniew Brzezinski, known for his fierce anti-Soviet stance, wrote in the Financial Times that Russia would find it impossible to revive its former empire. But...
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Sochi Olympics – the dangers of rebranding
What does President Putin hope to gain from hosting the Winter Olympics? There is a grave danger that the messages behind the Kremlin’s rebranding exercise could boomerang against the government.With...
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Who is fighting whom in Ukraine – and why
The Maidan protests, which started over two months ago, have drawn a very clear line between the political parties. At future elections, voters will ask their candidates, ‘What did you do during...
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The mistake that is Sochi
The Russian Government has a lot riding on the Sochi Olympics – prestige, glory, credibility, and an enormous amount of money. But why choose Sochi in the first place?The Winter Olympics open in Sochi...
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Death of a boxer
The murder of a young boxer in Omsk two months ago opened a real can of political worms, with the local Roma community in particular becoming the butt of neo-Nazi threatsIvan Klimov a 24-year-old...
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Power and money in Ukraine
Protest in Ukraine initially seemed to reveal a country sharply divided into the pro-European west and pro-Russian east. But there are signs that shared issues of civil rights and democracy are gaining...
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Leaving Afghanistan
Twenty five years ago today, Soviet General Boris Gromov oversaw the final withdrawal from Afghanistan. How will the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) leave Afghanistan?Twenty five years...
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Afghanistan, then and now
Modern urban versus traditional rural Afghanistan, then and now. Time may have moved on, but the problems are big enough to be extremely concerning.The positions of the Afghan state in 1989 and 2014...
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Ukraine’s 2014: a belated 1989 or another failed 2004?
Whatever their outcome, the events in Ukraine seem likely to be of greater long-term import than the ‘Orange Revolution’ in 2004. But a long-term what?Whatever their outcome, the events in Ukraine seem...
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Leaving Afghanistan leaves Tajikistan wary
What impact will the withdrawal of the Western-dominated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan this year have on neighbouring Tajikistan?What impact will the withdrawal of the...
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Blood and treasure
Can an invasion of Afghanistan ever be considered to be a mission accomplished? The British in the 19th century, the Soviets in the 20th and now 21st century ISAF is pulling out its troops. What have...
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Ukraine: the view from the west
What is happening in Ukraine has provoked outrage and shock in the west. But do we really understand what we’re talking about?Following the failure of the Ukrainian Government to sign the Association...
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Kazakhstan – the succession
President Nazarbayev has turned Kazakhstan into a Central Asian powerhouse. He is 73, and shows no sign of giving up the reins. But there are riches at stake, and people waiting in the wings.Kazakhstan...
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The importance of not being a -stan
What’s in a name? President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan was apparently in earnest when he recently suggested changing the name of ‘his’ country. If he gets his way, the domestic and international...
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