22 Articles

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Understanding the Orange Revolution: Ukraine's Democratization in the Russian Mirror
On November 21st, 2009, Ukrainian democrats will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the start of demonstrations in Kyiv which led to larger political developments that came to reshape our understanding of post-Soviet politics. During the last five years, the 2004 events in Ukraine known as the Orange Revolution have become important reference points in the international study of democratic transition and consolidation.

Sunday, August 23, 2009
Democratic Ukraine, Autocratic Russia: Why?
(2 comments) As long as Russia and other post-Soviet republics will keep a national mythology that pays little attention to proto-democratic beginnings in their history, they will remain trapped in their authoritarian traditions. Ukraine provides an example of how a country can break with an unusable past, and create a pluralistic polity drawing on appropriate (if, sometimes, idealized) precedents in its national history.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Europe's Share in the Ukrainian Malaise: The EU commits a historical mistake denying Kyiv a membership perspective
The EU's leaders should try to see the larger picture, remember the recent past of their own countries, and stop their unhistorical cognitive dissonance. They should try do understand Ukraine's current issues against the background of the West and Central European states' experience of instability before their participation in European integration. They should offer Ukraine a European perspective sooner rather than later.

Sunday, July 5, 2009
Averting a Post-Orange Disaster: Constitutional Reforms and Political Stability in Ukraine
(1 comments) Hard times are awaiting Europe's youngest and largest democracy, and one can only hope that the encouraging sanity and moderation that Kiev's elites have shown before will also prevail in the current situation.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Fascist Tendencies in Russia's Political Establishment: The Rise of the International Eurasian Movement
(4 comments) Aleksandr Dugin, a prominent advocate of fascist and anti-Western views, has risen from a fringe ideologue to penetrate into Russian governmental offices, mass media, civil society and academia. Prominent members of Russian society are affiliated with his International Eurasian Movement. If Dugin's views become more widely accepted, a new Cold War will be the least that we should expect from Russia during the coming years.

Thursday, May 7, 2009
Will There Be a Second Crimean War?
(2 comments) In a worst case scenario, an escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian quarrel around the famous Black Sea peninsula destabilizes European security

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Final Notes on the Discussion of "The Unpopular Prospect of World War III: The 20th Century Is Not Over Yet"
It is the Russian elite's obsession with speculating about the "real" purposes of this or that US policy in Europe or Asia (democracy promotion, missile defence, humanitarian intervention etc.) what constitutes the main problem, and, arguably, could become a threat to international security, in the case of an escalation, on the Caucasus, on Crimea, or in another region.

Saturday, January 17, 2009
Unpopular Prospect of World War III: The 20th Century Is Not Over Yet
(3 comments) Unless something fundamentally changes in Russian-Western relations, we will--as the Russian-Georgian war illustrated--continue to live on the brink of an armed confrontation between two nuclear super-powers.

Friday, January 16, 2009
Pipelines, Checks, and Balances: Is the EU Becoming an Instrument of Moscow's Neo-Colonialism?
(1 comments) It appears that in the near future, the European Union monitors will systematically observe the flow of Russian gas to Europe at the Russian-Ukrainian border. Thus, the EU seems to be helping to ease the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation. Or is it? Instead of alleviating the tension, the presence of neutral observers may open a new Pandora's Box in the Russian-Ukrainian power struggle.

Monday, December 22, 2008
Ukraine's Window of Opportunity
(2 comments) In order to become a more stable and effective democracy, Ukraine should transform sooner rather than later into a parliamentary republic.

Friday, October 3, 2008
Who Said "Genocide" First? A Russian Fascist Preceded (or Provided?) the Definition of Tiblisi's Attack in South Ossetia
(2 comments) The Russian extreme right, including some of its crypto-fascist sections, is becoming an ever more influential part of Moscow mainstream public discourse. Its influence can be felt in Russia's mass media, academia, civil society, arts, and politics. Against this background, the growing estrangement between Russia and the West is hardly surprising.

Friday, September 26, 2008
Moscow's Miscalculated Show of Strength: Eurasia Reacts Ambiguously to the Russian Caucasus Adventure
(2 comments) Like several times before, the Russian leadership becomes as a prisoner to its own propaganda. Outside the Kremlin's propagandistic bubble, Moscow looks increasingly isolated - a perception that, sooner or later, will also find its way into the Russian public.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
"Neo-Eurasianism," the Issue of Russian Fascism, and Post-Soviet Political Discourse
The example of Alexander Dugin illustrates that, as a result of an idiosyncratic conception of generic fascism in post-Soviet Russia, it is sufficient to rhetorically dissociate oneself from the worst crimes of Nazi Germany and to refrain from blatantly copying Nazi symbols in order to avoid public stigmatization as a fascist." Previously published in "Global Politician," 7 June 2008.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Two Towers of Future Russia: The Rise of Dmitry Medvedev and the Re-Configuration of Post-Soviet Politics
Medvedev's rise and the emergence of a "pro-Western tower" in the state apparatus will not, by itself, entail that Moscow transforms herself into an ally of the EU or NATO. Rather, Russia's domestic politics will again become confrontational in as far as the rise of Putin's young successor will mobilize and unite the large anti-Western constituency in various sectors of the Russian elite.

Saturday, May 3, 2008
Was Stalinism Nationalistic? A Review Article
(7 comments) Brandenberger's claim that Stalinist russocentrism was not truly nationalistic appears is less self-evident if seen in comparative light. There have been many international varieties of Marxism that altered themselves into various forms of populist nationalism, sometimes into ultra-nationalism.

Friday, May 2, 2008
Gorbachev Number Two: Dmitry Medvedev
(1 comments) Should the Russian presidential administration retain its prerogatives, and come under the lasting, full control of Medvedev, the Kremlin will become a focal point of pro-democratic tendencies in Moscow. This development could lead to a situation reminiscent of an earlier period of transition that gained fame under its Russian name "perestroika."

Monday, April 28, 2008
Post-Soviet Nationalism and Russia's Future
(7 comments) If one extrapolates Russia's development during the last eight years into the future, we will not only witness a second Cold War. The Russian Federation might become something like a new apartheid state where foreigners and non-Slavic citizens are treated separately from white citizens of Russia by governmental and non-governmental institutions.

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Moscow's New Chief Ideologist: Ivan Demidov
(4 comments) The Head of Ideology of Putin's United Russia party has professed to be under the influence of a particularly extreme brand of Russian imperialism known under the label of "neo-Eurasianism."

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Ukraine & NATO: German deferment vote based on reality, not Russian bias
(3 comments) Contemporary Germany's stand on Ukrainian participation in NATO's Membership Action Plan is less related to any particular pro-­Russian sentiment. Instead, it is driven by another, more rational assessment of the implications that a Ukrainian MAP participation, at this moment, would have. First published (with some mistakes) in "Kyiv Post," April 17th, 2008, www.kyivpost.com.

Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Belonuchkin Case: An Example of What Happens to Defenders of Democracy in Russia
Working as an official observer during the 2007 State Duma elections, Russian political journalist and researcher Grigory Belonuchkin collected documentation of electoral fraud in favor of Vladimir Putin's party United Russia. In April 2008, he was beaten so severely that he had to be hospitalized.

Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Paranoia Card: A Comment on Tsygankov's "The Russophobia Card"
In the unlikely case that Russia becomes a truly democratic country, much of what Andrei Tsygankov laments in his article would simply disappear. A response to an article published in "The Moscow Times," April 3, 2008, p. 8, www.moscowtimes.ru, and "OpEdNews," April 3, 2008, www.opednews.com.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Pseudo-Issue of Ukraine's NATO Membership
Before leaving office, outgoing US President George W. Bush, Jr. intends to bequeath to his successor and the world yet another headache. As if the Iraq debacle, misconceived "War on Terror," risky recognition of Kosovo, and other doubtful actions were not enough, the US wants to quickly bring Ukraine into NATO. Published in the Ukrainian weekly "Kyiv Post" on April 3rd, 2008, www.kyivpost.com