Tag: Anders Aslund

Ukraine on friction point between Russian authoritarianism & West’s democracy

     

Ukraine has overwhelmingly voted for fundamental change and is now led by people who are committed to making their country a modern democracy committed to liberty and the rule of… Read more »

Ukraine poised for a strong 2020: Is Zelensky succeeding?

     

Despite the fact that he took office as an utter political neophyte in one of Europe’s most dysfunctional nations, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government so far has been an extraordinary — and,… Read more »

Protecting the roots of Putin’s power: Kremlin drops all pretense of democracy

     

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies claims that the Kremlin used disinformation and other tactics in the 2016 presidential election, Reuters reports: In an… Read more »

Russia’s crony capitalism: from market economy to kleptocracy?

     

Russia’s main problem isn’t populism, but elitism in two basic forms, says analyst Emil Pain, the paternalist one in the state based on tradition and the “snobbish” version held many… Read more »

Ukraine ‘still involved in existential struggle’

     

After the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, the country will likely be stuck with an oligarch-linked president yet again. The two presidential front-runners are Volodymyr Zelensky, a… Read more »

What’s at stake in Ukraine’s election?

     

Ukraine votes for a president on March 31. Will the pro-Western incumbent, Petro Poroshenko, win? Or will he lose to his old foe, Yulia Tymoshenko, or wild card Volodymyr Zelenskiy?… Read more »

Remembering Nadia Diuk

     

  In the days since Nadia passed, the National Endowment for Democracy has received an incredible outpouring of messages of condolence and remembering, said NED President Carl Gershman, delivering a… Read more »

Putin’s ‘masterclass in despotism’ threatens Ukraine’s fragile democracy

     

A Russian court has ordered several of the Ukrainian sailors who were captured by Russian coast-guard forces during a confrontation at sea off Crimea to be held in custody for… Read more »

West’s Iron Curtain ‘would be most effective tool against Putin’s kleptocracy’

     

There is a major difference between former Soviet leaders and senior Russian officials today, including Russian President Vladimir Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov, whose families are abroad, former… Read more »

Russia lacks ability to roll back post-1990 democratic revolution

     

The West is in crisis because of European weakness, not Russian strength, says analyst Walter Russell Mead. Europe’s weakness has provided Vladimir Putin with opportunities to promote Russian power by… Read more »