In most countries the first-best mechanism of political choice, i.e. fair and competitive elections, is unfeasible. Thus, citizens are left to choose from either participating in rigged elections whose outcome is likely distorted in favor of incumbents, or resorting to protests to force a policy change or overthrow the government. I am wondering if…

 

 

To borrow the words of Christof Ruehl, Group Chief Economist and Vice President of BP, this time around the multinational oil supermajor aimed to “shake-up the crystal ball” by recalibrating some of its old formulas in the bid to provide a fresh outlook on the way global energy markets will evolve. In this…

As American security analysts and officials continue to ring the alarm on US President Barack Obama’s plan to military withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, a Pentagon-sponsored review made clear that a pull-out will in essence equate to handing the war-torn and battered nation back into the hands of the Taliban, or worse, Al Qaeda.
If Washington…

 
 
Looking at the Ukrainian and EU flags waving proudly in front of the White House, one is reminded that the Transatlantic one is a community of values. That despite all strains, spooks,  our inability to live up to our very expectations, our heed of European values unite us. It is a strong acknowledgement of the sacrifice the…

The talks about bipolar world and its alleged stability in relation to other models of the world are very popular in Russia. However, the realists are rather indifferent to the internal structure of a state. Instead, they tend to see the state as a unit. In my opinion, the last events in Ukraine are the powerful evidence for the fallacy of this…

Dear Reader!
 
As I have told you before, Sir Popper prepared an answer - and at last I have time to publish it. The topic is the same, the view is different.
What if the most annoyed student, who also thinks he has got nothing from his degree, had the luck to speak up?
 
What would you say?
[15.04.2010]
[2:02 a.m.]
 
Popper
…

The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013 demonstrated that the European Union’s policy toward its eastern neighbors has developed into a highly contentious issue between the EU and Russia. The summit was overshadowed by the decision of the Ukrainian government not to sign an Association Agreement with the EU and the following…

Our jvlv.net, has warned for weeks of the Damocles sword over the Ukraine. This is our suggestion. Working with Dr. Andrey Kortunov, RIAC, Moscow, and professor Alexander Motyl, Rutgers U., we´ve been trying to make you & Mr Putin focus on this crisis. You had 3 months! At Olympics, Putin invited and consulted with Yanukovych…

A groundswell of popular articles and academic monographs are appearing that discuss nuclear guided missile warfare, modernizing delivery platforms, warheads and sophisticated guidance systems. On the power curve one sees a major realignment of diplomatic relationships among major powers that seek to control threats but provide opportunities for new…

Not a month has gone by since Yemen President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced triumphant that the National Dialogue Conference - NDC - had reached a successful conclusion, following months of protracted negotiations, that reports of clashes and bloodshed already broke out, clear signs that the impoverished nation has failed to address some its core…

 
With the intense Twitter activity of Western journalists, the gaffes at the Sochi Olympics have reached all of us. And people are certainly not happy about it in Russia, where it is common to denounce criticism coming from the West as russophobia. It is of course widely so elsewhere in the world, too: authoritarian-leaning governments tend to…

Twenty years after the collapse of the USSR, politicians in the newly generated independent CIS-countries do not build common migration strategy, even though it is in each country’s best interest for their residents to pay attention to each other’s social, political, economic, cultural, and linguistic differences. However, partnership and…