Congratulations, Serbia – leader and model!
The EU begins to adopt Belgrade’s two stool approach to Russia’s war against Ukraine (sort of). By David B. Kanin European notables owe... Read More
Central and Eastern Europe
War crimes trials: appropriate but problematic
The clamor for retributive justice makes outright military success over Russian forces even more essential. By David B. Kanin The documented atrocities being... Read More
Can the UN General Assembly act on Ukraine?
This food crisis suggests the need to establish secure transportation zones in Ukraine and the Black Sea to allow food to be gathered and transported.... Read More
Ukraine – towards a peace agreement, part #1
This essay sets out a process by which to initiate an agreement to bring Ukraine to peace, including considerations about a new federal constitution and... Read More
Ukraine: an essay on the economics of the refugee crisis
The Russian attack on Odessa will inevitably follow the encirclement of Nikolaev, which can be expected in the next few days. This will create a... Read More
If NATO cannot act, then individual EU countries should
It may be time for the EU – perhaps under its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) – or individual European countries to consider placing... Read More
An essay on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Part #5: preventing another genocide
NATO now needs to use its collective strength to defend Europe once more and to prevent Ukraine from being reduced to another slaughterhouse. Russian ground... Read More
The Ukraine crisis and Great Power rivalry in the Balkans
War or not, current tensions underscore the region’s geopolitical marginality. The outcome regarding Ukraine will suggest which great power is more likely to bend Balkan... Read More
An Essay on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, part #4: understanding Russian intentions
The Russian opinion is that the current chaos in Ukraine is jeopardising Ukraine’s status as a buffer state between East and West so imperative to... Read More
An essay on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (#3): why is the diplomacy failing?
To avoid messy partition, Zelensky must go. This can be done neatly and easily, through the good will and practicalities of diplomats of all kinds... Read More
An essay on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, part #2: domestic political manouverings
Russia’s principal problem with Ukraine is that Kyiv’s current political leadership is seeking to strike out in a direction independent from Moscow’s foreign policy, causing... Read More
Ukraine, Russia and the Kosovo precedent
The Western role should be to help Kiev make the best deal possible with Moscow while there may still be one to make: a federal... Read More
An Essay on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Part #1
Russia has amassed in the region of 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and equivalent armour. The intention is therefore clearly for a ground war.... Read More
Progress toward Ukraine, Donbas, Russia conflict resolution – serious negotiations still needed
Today, there is a need for dialogue, trust-building, and reconciliation within the country. The same issues as to what “self rule” means in practice is... Read More
Afghanistan and Russia – still searching for appropriate structures of governance
The Association of World Citizens remains concerned with the efforts to find appropriate forms of governance in Afghanistan. We are still far from a condition... Read More
Trump’s New Year’s gift to Putin, Rouhani, and Erdogan
Trump’s haphazard and thoughtless decision to withdraw forces from Syria points only to his abdication of the US’ moral responsibility, not to speak of its... Read More
American energy policy in the Middle East
In the medium term, the United States must diversify its reliance upon international oil markets. Energy independence was never a credible policy, because energy prices... Read More
Is a Ukrainian peace agreement possible?
The trigger events for a peace agreement for Ukraine may look rather different from those conventionally found in the armoury of the peacekeeper. The main... Read More
Detente redux – the USA, Russia and China in the modern world
The rationale for détente with Russia and China, then as now, derives from a change in American foreign policy philosophy. The drive to pursue a... Read More
Serbia, Turkey, and Russia – alarm bells for Europe
The European Union should warn Serbia that it must weigh its options carefully and undertake the necessary socio-political and economic reforms if it wants to... Read More
No defence in Chechnya – Oyub Titiyev and the grim future of human rights in Russia’s North Caucasus
The prosecution of a Chechen human rights campaigner is a landmark step in the systematic elimination of civil society under Ramzan Kadyrov.
Surviving imprisonment – does Ukraine need a law for former prisoners from the Donbas conflict?
Ukrainian society has had to face many challenges since 2014. One of them is reintegrating people who have experienced imprisonment and violence.
“Invisible battalion”: how Ukrainian women secured the right to fight on a par with men
For four years, Ukrainian civil society has been fighting in the war against Russia. The war effort came from below – and women are playing... Read More
The disintegrating Donbass – is there a future for a con-federal Ukraine?
The current crisis may serve as a reminder of how dangerous a disintegrating Donbas can be. An alternative would be to study seriously the possibilities... Read More
Growing up apolitical in Ukraine’s war zone
War, propaganda and misunderstanding — teenagers in Ukraine’s frontline towns are growing up under incredible stress.
Structuring Ukraine’s phantom republics
We must find ways of dealing creatively with the new States born from the break up of the Soviet Union: Abkazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Transnistra,... Read More
The fog of civil war – divining the truth in Avdiivka
International policymakers must not get distracted by the act of assigning blame. One of the cruelties of civil wars lies in the fact that howsoever... Read More
Reset redux – how to coordinate US and Russian foreign relations
A brief contrast between US and Russian political histories and diplomatic philosophies enables us at least to trace the contours of a possible resolution, with... Read More
Europe in crisis – an agenda for peace
We no longer have the certainties of the Cold War, but we do maintain its dangers after an illusory period of apparent monopolistic security. Understanding... Read More
Questions and answers about some of the raging events in the Middle East
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, answers some questions concerning the turmoil in the Middle East and America’s... Read More
Close criminal case against Valentina Cherevatenko
As representatives of civil society, we are deeply concerned about the attempts by Russian authorities to prosecute Valentina Cherevatenko, one of the most prominent civil... Read More
The US and Russia
Russia and the US have a deep shared interest in their own and global security. They form, in effect, the Western and Eastern boundaries of... Read More
Power, corruption and lies – the vortex of ‘Frozen Conflict’
‘Frozen conflicts’ blight a number of ex-Soviet states where reformist voices seek a more democratic and liberal path. Resolving these disputes has proved exceptionally difficult... Read More
National versus corporate interests and the EU-Russia energy dialogue
Russian gas export giant Gazprom strikes another deal with German EON and French Engie to expand the pipeline project known as ‘Nord Stream’. The project... Read More
Cold War-style hostility in Syria?
Russia has a very clear goal in Syria – to back Assad and keep him in power. Unlike the West – which clearly said that... Read More
Putin takes a gamble
The free-for-all in Syria has become a proxy war between Russia and the United States, even though Washington refuses to fight it. The problem for... Read More
Transnistria, Northern Cyprus and Donbass – lessons learnt and not to be repeated
The lessons and knowledge accumulated from Transnistria and Northern Cyprus should be a valuable asset when tackling another emerging frozen conflict in Europe – the... Read More
Agreeing to end civil wars – reflections from the Balkans to Ukraine
If civil wars were not destined as a rule to yield uneasy but stable partition, then it is hard to see why they would be... Read More
Ukraine’s European integration
If the EU is serious about helping Ukraine, both parties should focus on the country’s most glaring problem, and the Maidan’s principal demands – justice... Read More
Putin – next steps in conquest and subversion
The West needs a lot more than tepid sanctions and tired rhetoric to counter Russia’s patient, skillful effort to rebuild its empire.
Ukraine’s outlook is bleak
After initial enthusiasm the outlook for Ukraine’s Maidan revolution is turning increasingly bleak. In the East there is a war. Everywhere there is an economic crisis.... Read More
Fighting Cold War in Russia and Ukraine
Cold War has not two protagonists but three or more. The contemporary struggle over the future of Ukraine betrays a similar pattern. The familiar exhortations... Read More
NATO reform needed
It is time for the citizenry of NATO countries to demand that the principles contained in the original NATO treaty be honoured and that Article... Read More
Russia/China – containment?
Any effort to contain Russian and China should accept that they will insist on their own regional interests and that none of us has anything... Read More
Kosovo, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq
The struggles by ethnic and religious groups left behind by empire cannot be resolved by outsiders. These competing groups need to find their own way... Read More
An enquiry concerning the Donetsk People’s Republic
The People’s Republic of Donetsk seems likely to be perpetuated as a chronically unstable catastrophe, as Russia wants neither independence nor sustainable federalisation. For the... Read More
Kosovo and Crimea – what’s the difference?
The only discussion of principle emerging from the debates over Kosovar and Crimean independence is that initiated by Woodrow Wilson towards the end of World... Read More
The Ukrainian lesson – challenges for a new European peace movement
To use this chance means to define the tasks of a renewed, truly Pan-European peace movement; an integral movement reviving the best ideas of former... Read More
Winners and losers in the Balkans wars – lessons for Ukraine and the Levant
Absent genuine geopolitical interest in another country’s conflicts, the West should stay out of others’ civil wars lest it risks exacerbating them and contributing to... Read More
Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. – the saga continues
The current crisis should encourage Europeans and Russians to explore structures to push security and political collaboration to the same high level as economic integration.... Read More
Breaking Ukraine
Russia has real interests in Ukraine, the West does not. The Ukrainians have fundamental interests. The Western role should be to help them make the... Read More
Ukraine – a stake for the long run
The West is stuck in reactive mode to what it perceives as a Crimean crisis; it needs instead to prepare for a strategic competition with... Read More
The merits and pitfalls of comparison – Ukraine, Crimea and the Yugoslav references
Stating that a democratic Ukraine that fulfills the EU membership criteria can become a member,if it so desired, can provide for a strong incentive for... Read More
Why should we care about Crimea?
Beyond the question of what exactly the Western powers expect of Russia and how likely it is that Russia will meet those expectations there is... Read More
Back to the 90s – how past mistakes will drive Ukraine’s future
Russia will create an atmosphere in which European countries – unsure of their relationship with Russia and Ukraine – will question not only Crimea’s right... Read More
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