Russia’s ‘calcifying authoritarian kleptocracy’ contd.?
One of Europe’s formerly most respected Social Democrats has three failed marriages, a brand new wife half his age and a widely reported drinking problem. Rumor has it he is… Read more »
Category: Eurasia
Singling out Russia’s information warfare as ‘strategic threat’ to democracy
The European Commission is set to single out Russia directly for its “information warfare” as part of EU efforts to fight back against online disinformation campaigns, RFE/RL reports. “Mass online… Read more »
Revolution in Armenia? Prospects of the protest movement
Under pressure from a surging popular protest movement, Armenia’s Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan (left) resigned on Monday, less than one week after taking office, notes the Commission on Security and… Read more »
Russia’s ‘fusion of power and criminality’: how to combat Putin’s kleptocratic mafia
There is little prospect of a Russo-American ‘grand bargain’ or rapprochement, even if Vladimir Putin visits Washington, in part because the US will not abandon democracy promotion, a RUSI analysis suggests: Russia unsuccessfully pushed for… Read more »
‘No color revolution’: Armenians don’t deliver blow to Putinism?
In Armenia, a constitutional power grab backfired, says Chatham House analyst Laurence Broers. Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan stepped down Monday amid large-scale protests against corruption and his rule, a move… Read more »
‘A different kind of propaganda’: has the West lost the information war?
When a Russian official at February’s Munich Security Conference proposed a joint initiative between Russia and the United States on cybersecurity, then-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster replied, “I’m surprised there… Read more »
Armenia’s PM steps down in ‘victory for civil society’
Today the mood in Armenia is that of elation – many people are cheering and dancing to loud music in the streets of the capital, Yerevan, and around the country… Read more »
Diluting disinformation: ‘no quick fixes’
A new EU fake news initiative will recommend engaging with social media companies to agree and enforce a new code of practice on fake news or disinformation, reports suggest: The… Read more »
Muzzled Media: ‘perfect storm’ threatens press freedom
Independent media are facing a “perfect storm” of challenges, from capture by oligarchs to the emergence of “post-truth” politics, says Mark Nelson, director of the Center for International Media Assistance… Read more »
Russian kleptocrats ‘fraught with anxieties’: why the latest sanctions will bite
The lives of Russian kleptocrats in Britain are suddenly fraught with new anxieties, the Washington Post reports: Critics in London of Russian President Vladimir Putin are reevaluating their need for… Read more »