Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) is seen as one of the most important carrots for countries of the Eastern Partnership. Ukraine’s negotiations with the EU over the Association Agreement, which contains the DCFTA, were concluded at the turn of the year 2011. On the opposite shore stands the offer of Customs Union, consisting of…

 
North Korea is notorious for its human rights’ violations, labor camps, bizarre provocations of the United States and a blind worship of its leaders.  And these topics, of course, catch attention of Western media that usually portrays North Korea as being like something akin to the Joker from the Batman- movies, whose only plan is…

 
 
Alongside my typical journalistic duties at ‘Oil & Gas Eurasia Magazine’, I tend to daily scan both Russian and Western media outlets, news stands, twitter profiles, oil companies press releases and alike - for major news, interesting articles and possible leads within the energy industry. Today, I want to share with…

Recently in the British press there has been extensive coverage of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen President. While my main research focus is representations of Vladimir Putin in UK print media, it is interesting to observe how another ‘Russian’ leader is portrayed, in reference to both masculinity and international politics. Over the past…

 
 
‘The arrogance of the EU knows no bounds’ - you could see this headline on the front page of a British tabloid any day. Normally, a criticism of the EU’s financial policies lies beneath these slogans, provoking  Eurosceptic sentiment in a dangerous and misleading manner. But there is a bit of truth in the…

 
We have certain beleifs about the world around us, but they are not static: when we receive new information we update our beliefs accordingly. This process is reflected in the Bayes’ Theorem that provides a way to calculate how people digest new information. Bayesian methods are becoming increasinly popular in political analysis. And…

‘First or second-hand, […] original or translated, accurate or inaccurate, the accounts of Russia published in England during this period agree in their general tone of superiority, often amounting to contempt, and in the picture, essentially unchanged throughout the century, which they paint of a backward and barbarous country and people…

As said before, this blog is going to host mainly interviews of experts on the stabilization process in North Caucasus, but before starting with this, it is important to have an overview of the general situation. That is why this post is composed by a brief description of the North Caucasus and a summary of the significant events that occurred in the…

This week Bishkek is up to changing it’s mayor, last week there were gossips about preparing a new revolution; protestants in Jalalabad are erecting tents on the central square of the city. What are the key reasons of Kyrgyzstan’s stable instability?
The question of “why Kyrgyzstan can not stabilize it’s political…

 
The Eastern Partnership programme is stalling, even though on February 25 officials from the EU and Ukraine reaffirmed their joint commitment to sign an Association Agreement in November. President Yanukovych, despite his repeated promises, is reluctant to carry out substantial reforms to Ukraine’s judicial and political systems. The EU…

I am currently studying International Relations in a double Masters Degree program with the University of Kent (UK) and the Higher School of Economics (Russia). These years of study allowed me to build up expertise in International Relations theory, the Eurasian region, the SCO, Politics, theory of conflict and violence, conflict resolution, civil…

The Eastern Partnership is rather fresh policy of the European Union to structure and improve political and economic relations with six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. All of these states are in the closest vicinity of the Russian Federation. What were its reactions in the past and what can we expect in…