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Nobody wants Russia’s Turks
Russia’s Meskhetian Turks, exiled from their homeland seventy years ago, have to put up with ignorance, prejudice, discrimination and violence on a regular basis. A travelling exhibition, now in the...
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Crimea – from playground to battleground
Journalistic speculation about Crimea becoming independent is rife. However, the real dangers lie elsewhere…On 27 February the Crimean crisis escalated as armed protesters, denounced by the Ukrainian...
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TV Rain - the wrong question
A row over a viewer opinion poll has effectively silenced TV Rain, Russia’s most independent TV channel. A pity they asked the wrong question.At first glance the significance of the regime’s attack on...
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A response to Cas Mudde’s ‘A new (order) Ukraine’
Events in Ukraine have provoked an avalanche of media comment, much of which, though well-intentioned, is not entirely accurate.Commenting on Cas Mudde’s article‘A new (order) Ukraine? Assessing the...
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End of the road for populism in Ukraine
Ukrainians are having to pay a high price for the success of their revolution, and it is as yet by no means clear what exactly that victory will bring them. The problems in Crimea must be resolved and...
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Crimean Tatars – tragic past and uncertain present
News coverage of the current dramatic situation in Crimea has so far had little to say about the Tatars. Their history has been one of repression and deportation, but they should not be overlooked.The...
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The three ages of Putinism
Two years ago, on 4 March 2012, Russians went to the polls to elect a new president, and returned Vladimir Putin for his third term in office. Since then he has been putting the finishing touches to...
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No real threat to Ukraine’s Russian speakers
What are the ‘legitimate interests’ justifying Putin’s intervention into Ukraine? The most frequently identified interest is the situation of Russians and Russian-speakers. Is the Russian language...
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Russia in the Middle East: a well-played hand disguises fading fortunes
There is no doubt that Russia’s diplomatic coups in the Middle East late last year caused its stock to rise. But is Moscow really the new boss in town or is this all just hyperbolic nonsense?In...
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The Maidan is alive and well and planning its future
The eyes of the world may be fixed on Crimea, but back in Kyiv the Maidan isn’t going away and is looking forward to a future mission spreading people’s politics around Ukraine.Three months ago a new...
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Civil war, secession and the body politic
Working with young people is important in any society. The recent story of an unusual Chechen initiative demonstrates why functional governance has so spectacularly failed to take root during the last...
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Dagestan: Russia’s hottest spot
Asked to name Russia’s most troublesome region, most people would plump for Chechnya. But its neighbour Dagestan is now officially the most dangerous part of the Federations.In this republic of three...
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Is Russia’s ‘foreign agent’ law illegal?
On 6 March the Russian Federation’s Constitutional Court began hearings on whether a law affecting thousands of NGOs is in fact unconstitutional. But many civil rights campaigners believe that whatever...
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Is Russia outgunning Ukraine in the ‘information war’?
For both Moscow and Kyiv, TV is the key to winning the hearts and minds of Ukrainians. But who is winning the ‘information war’?In recent days Russia has been accused of ‘information genocide’ over the...
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Ukraine is stuck in a post-Soviet condition
Stalin created Ukraine as we know it today. That is why the future of the country, East and West, is stuck in its past – a post-Soviet state unable to escape its history.It is common to speak about...
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Who’s next on Putin’s list?
Crimea is under the control of Russia’s military forces and its Moscow-backed government is voting to secede from Ukraine.  Where might President Vladimir Putin seek territorial expansion next?With...
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Putin, Crimea and the legitimacy trap
The Kremlin sees events in Ukraine through the prism of its own domestic politics and is anxious to prevent the type of democrats-and-nationalists alliance that brought down Yanukovych. Its actions in...
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The Crimean ‘Army’
Several months ago the Crimean peninsula seemed to be the safest place in Ukraine, far from the confrontation between Viktor Yanukovych and Maidan. Now Crimea is occupied by an ‘army,’ but whose army...
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Mr Putin's mercenaries
The Kremlin claims that its every step in Crimea fully complies with international law. But does President Putin understand that, under international law, Ukraine could either arrest or shoot those...
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Could Crimea be another Bosnia?
As Crimea prepares for its referendum on Sunday, a lesson should perhaps be learned from an earlier, Balkan carve-up.'A democratic reply to undemocratic pressures.’ This is how Radovan Karadžić's party...
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