Category: Eurasia

Russia’s Homo Sovieticus nostalgia colliding with ‘newer, darker forces’ – Svetlana Alexievich

     

Russia is taking refuge in ideas from its Soviet past, but this nostalgia collides with newer, darker forces, according to Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich. In an interview with The… Read more »

Re-drawing the Iron Curtain?

     

  With ever-increasing enthusiasm, Russia claims to be the heir to the Soviet Union, and attacks on bronze, granite and plaster Lenins in Ukraine have generally been interpreted here [in… Read more »

Life after Putin: ‘no doubt that political transition looming’

     

The EU is set to roll over its Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia for a further six months despite signs of the mood towards Moscow softening in some of the bloc’s member states,… Read more »

When Russia glimpsed freedom – for a moment

     

In the years since the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, Russians experienced the longest period of freedom in their thousand-year history — and then lost it, notes David E. Hoffman,… Read more »

‘Indispensable partner’? India joins Russia in move against democracy NGOs

     

India placed three U.S. NGOs on a ‘watch list’ as Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the U.S. Congress he wanted closer ties between the two countries. India’s Home Ministry has… Read more »

Kazakhstan’s ‘economy first, politics later’ philosophy under strain

     

  Kazakhstan is not a country accustomed to political instability. Nursultan Nazarbayev has enjoyed a quarter century as president of the central Asian nation on the back of rising oil… Read more »

Brexit would bolster Russia’s geopolitical narratives

     

On balance, a British withdrawal from the EU would bolster Russia’s preferred geopolitical narratives and make it more difficult for the West to counter Russian power plays, argues James Nixey,… Read more »

Islam and democracy: What’s the problem?

     

Can Muslim-majority countries strike a balance between faith and democracy? Al Jazeera asks. Or, is there an irreconcilable tension between liberal values and Islamic beliefs? When we discuss political Islam… Read more »

Russia’s election countdown: ‘No one untouchable’ on violations?

     

The head of Russia ‘s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that an interdepartmental working group is being set up to quickly react to election violations, the Moscow Times reports:… Read more »

Reversing democracy’s retreat? Reasons to be hopeful

     

Democracy is being challenged today as never before since the end of the Cold War, notes Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy. Freedom House has recorded ten consecutive years… Read more »