Believe the protest leader's story or not, the response of Ukraine's authorities is suspicious
 
Dmytro Bulatov, leader of AvtoMaidan, the motor wing of the Euromaidan protests, appeared on 30 January after 8 days in the dark. He claimed he had been kidnapped and severely tortured, then dumped in a forest to let die. He said he…

The Ukrainian situation just took a very dangerous turn. The demonstrators have taken over government buildings not only in Kiev but five other cities including the Russian-speaking East. Neither is it just Yanukovych´s broken promise to let the Ukraine join the EU and his turn towards Russia which sparked this crisis. It is his overall policies…

As a first step one would need to define what is meant by engaging the UK in the arms control, disarmament & nuclear non-proliferation process taking place between the US and Russia. The UK’s case in the arms control, disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation process is a complicated one because of the 1958 & 1959 US-UK Mutual Defence…

It’s convenient to discuss social utilities like Facebook, Twitter and You Tube in the context of nations seeking to propagate policy and push back the contending views of other governments.
 
But business elites and NGOs interrupted the diplomatic conversation before former U.S. secretary of state and current 2016 presidential hopeful…

Mr. President, at the time of this writing, it is gratifying to know that your security men and our special agents are working together to battle Islamist fascism, with its revenge-hungry black widows, deluded martyrs and racist beliefs that resemble the lethal lunacy of Mein Kampf. Though many still ignore the danger, a worldwide struggle against…

The state of e-diplomacy today Today, diplomats use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and country-specific social media networks such as Russia’s VKontakte or China’s Weibo. Eighty-two foreign ministries currently have Twitter accounts, and 47 ministers of foreign affairs are personally on Twitter. The two most popular foreign ministers on…

In the recent days, the post-Soviet world (and beyond) has been transfixed by Ukraine's contentious politics. Is it a beginning of the revolution, which will oust Yanukovych? Or is it a prelude to a wide-scale repression by the "family"? There is no doubt that what is happening in Kiev is about democracy--the rule of the people, in this…

This essay aims to offer comparison between Ukrainian protests of 2013 with the case of the 2004 Orange Revolution. In the following paragraphs, I will identify several differences that lead me to the conclusion that these two events are not alike. Although I must admit that there are several similarities - the same actors, people in the streets…

Linkages exist between the ongoing, peaceful-turned violent demonstrations in the Ukraine and the Chechen threats to the Olympics. Although nominally independent, the Ukraine is really living under a Soviet style leader and government. Yearning for closer ties to Europe rather than Russia, the Ukrainians elected President Viktor Yanukovich on his…

NIS - Building a Giant in South East Europe

Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.
J. Paul Getty

The Oil and petroleum product Trading Company was founded on 1947. The establishment of the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company, the predecessor of today’s NIS, was in many ways significant for Serbia half a century…

The Asia-Pacific region has assumed primary importance as a center of global politics and economic dynamism. For Moscow, this development highlights a world in which many long-standing assumptions about international politics are being overturned. It speaks of “global power … shifting to the East,” and of Russia becoming involved in…

We have heard many recollections about Ariel Sharon, the late Israeli P.M., some critical, some laudatory. With Putin having surprised us with his laudatory comments about Nelson Mandela, we were not surprised to see what he said about Sharon. After all, when the two met in the Kremlin in November 2003, Sharon referred to Putin as "a true…