Russia’s Soft Power Wars

The stark contrast between Western and Russian understanding of “soft power” has become evident during President Vladimir Putin’s third presidency. For the Kremlin, “soft power” is part of its arsenal of foreign policy tools designed to re-integrate Russia’s neighbors around a Moscow orbit.

Three in a Boat

PACE’s failure to recognize Azerbaijani political prisoners creates problems for their counterparts in Ukraine

Ukraine Between East and West

Stephen Blank of the Strategic Studies Institute talks about Ukraine confronting the growing pressure from Moscow and isolation from Brussels and Washington and the crises these cause.

PACE Vice-President: “Ukrainians alone can demand condemnation of Ukraine’s election riggers”

René Rouquet, PACE vice president, discussed with The Ukrainian Week whether international organizations can realistically be expected to impose sanctions on election riggers and whether Party of Regions representatives will again join the socialist faction at the PACE winter session to be held on 21-25 January in Strasbourg.

Adam Michnik: “Neo-Soviet Putin culture and the Berlusconi-type mafia culture have come to co-exist in Ukraine”

Polish civil and political activist Adam Michnik told The Ukrainian Week about the outlook for democracy in Ukraine.

Iran: Growing Dependent on China

Foreign Affairs Analyst Richard Heydarian talks about the present status and the outlook of Sino-Iranian relations

Igor Chubais: It’s naive to expect changes in Russia through elections

Igor Chubais, philosopher and brother of Russian politician Anatoly Chubais, told The Ukrainian Week about the direction in which Russia is moving, how many years the ruling regime has left and relations between official Kyiv and Moscow.

How to Save EU

Nicolas Tenzer on how the united Europe can overcome economic and geopolitical challenges

A War for the Neighbours’ Ears

The Party of Regions launches yet another campaign to whitewash the Yanukovych regime and discredit the opposition. Its members accuse international observers of violations and struggle to persuade the West that the election was democratic in Paris, and talk about threats from Svoboda in London

Andreas Gross: "Ukraine is already under authoritarian rule"

Andreas Gross headed the PACE observation mission for the October 2012 parliamentary election in Ukraine. Before PACE publishes its official report on the Ukrainian election on November 12, Mr. Gross shared his opinion with The Ukrainian Week.

Aleksander Smolar: “Full democracy can be revived in Ukraine only if citizens put pressure on the government”

For 21 years now, since Poland moved from socialism to democracy, Polish political scientist Aleksander Smolar has headed an influential NGO, the Stefan Batory Foundation, which was instrumental in developing open civil society in Poland and which has been involved in a number of national and international projects in Eastern Europe.

The American Choice of Europe

The EU hopes for Barack Obama to win the election, yet expects global leadership from any US president

Lost in Transition

After the 2012 parliamentary elections, it is tempting to describe Lithuania as a victim of a series of ugly and unscrupulous manipulations undertaken by political cheats like Viktor Uspaskich and his party, the Labor Party, which is among the major winners of the elections along with Lithuanian Social Democrats and Motherland Union (Christian Democrats). Yet on a closer look it appears a simplistic perception of Lithuania’s political reality.

Comfort or Freedom?

The fall session of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) proved that the real confrontation on the European continent is about values rather than geopolitics

Jakob Kellenberger on the Importance of Values in International Relations

Jakob Kellenberger is one of the diplomats who firmly believe that any interstate affairs should be based on certain values.

Estonia: New Parliament Heralded Decisive Shift to the Right

Elections to the new Estonian Parliament, the unicameral Riigikogu (as it is called in Estonian), on 20 September 1992 marked a watershed in the Estonian politics and laid the foundation for further successful development.

Opposition Wins Election in Lithuania

On 14 October, Lithuanians voted against the conservative government and the construction of a new nuclear power plant.

Georgia Dreaming

The transfer of power is almost over in Tbilisi.

Political Correctess in UK

There is growing resentment in UK of the way that some militants from minority groups are exploiting the reluctance of the police, social services and the law to target known extremists for fear of being labelled racists.

Class Divide

Is Britain still obsessed by social class? In recent years, this seemed to be fading. Under the governments of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, British society appeared to be more egalitarian, more meritocratic and less dominated by the way people speak, what school they attended and what position their parents had in society.

After Smolensk. New Details About the Death of Lech Kaczynski

A new investigation into the causes of the tragedy that took the lives of President Lech Kaczynski and other top Polish officials suggests that there may have been explosions on board their aircraft

Nicholas Schmitt: “Federalism has allowed for the preservation of a functional and prosperous multi-ethnic state, without any tendency towards secessionism”

Nicholas Schmitt, a well-known researcher from the Institute of Federalism at the University of Fribourg, told The Ukrainian Week about Switzerland’s political system.

The Opposition Wins – Does Georgia Lose?

Those who observed the reform process in Georgia fall into two categories after the parliamentary election. “Everything is lost!” some lamented on Facebook, while their opponents reacted to the outcome with the utmost cynicism.

Andreas Gross: “Ukraine needs another democratic revolution”

Andreas Gross, head of the PACE observers delegation to Ukraine and Chairman of the PACE Social Democratic Group told The Ukrainian Week about PACE’s evaluation of the election situation in Ukraine.

Jerzy Buzek: “The most convenient and successful way for Ukraine to resist Russian influence would be to sign the Association Agreement”

Jerzy Buzek was one of the first European politicians who said that the Yulia Tymoshenko case was politically motivated. Even after his term as a European MP expired at the beginning of this year, Jerzy Buzek continues to monitor the situation in Ukraine.

Brussels Against Gazprom

President Putin is nervous. Western experts believe that the European Commission has a good chance of winning the conflict regarding Gazprom’s monopoly prices on Central European markets