PONARS Eurasia 6 - PONARS Eurasia

The Circassian Question in Russian-Georgian Relations

Russian-Georgian relations have gone through many changes, but before August 2008 one constant in this relationship was the attitude toward Georgia’s territorial integrity. In 1990-91, when Georgia made its first…

Dmitry Medvedev’s Conservative Modernization: Reflections on the Yaroslavl Speech

On September 11, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev addressed the Global Policy Forum in Yaroslavl. This speech took place almost exactly a year after his programmatic article, Forward Russia!, which…

Historical Legacies and Law Enforcement in Russia

The Russian militia has been consigned to the dustbin of history, replaced (as of March 2011) by the Russian police. The change to the name “police” is supposed to indicate…

Eighteen Months Under Yanukovych: Ukraine’s Reform Record and Implications

Under President Victor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s government has launched a variety of initiatives in different policy areas aimed at improving governance and modernizing the country’s regulatory system. One motivation for these…

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan’s Dispute over the Caspian Sea: Will It Impede the Nabucco Project?

On July 24, 2009, Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov convened a special session of the government to discuss issues related to ownership of the Caspian oil and gas fields. At the…

The Making of a De Facto State: Warlords and Militarized Society in Nagorno-Karabakh

“Warlordism” is sometimes seen as a self-repairing strategy for weak states. This memo assesses the rise of the twin phenomena of warlordism and militarism in the de facto state of…

Is a Junior Partner Really a Partner? Making Sense of Ukrainian Foreign Policy

There is a widely held belief among observers regarding the extent of change that has been implemented by Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych and his team, particularly in the field of…

Institutionalizing Security Cooperation between Russia and the West

Are there any mechanisms that would allow the security relationship between Russia and NATO member states—whether European or North American—to become deeply and permanently cooperative? On paper, cooperation was institutionalized long…

Institutional Trap in Russian Politics: Still No Way Out?

In the 2000s, Russia’s political structure demonstrated a trajectory of decay across major institutions of state, politics, and governance. Despite the fact that numerous negative assessments of Russia’s institutional development…

The Political Economy of Oil in Russia: ‘Really Existing Capitalism?’

The past year has seen oil prices return to near-record levels and the Russian economy return to growth. It has also seen major Russian oil companies discuss partnerships and file…

The Logic of Kyrgyzstan’s Base Policy

Kyrgyzstan’s February 2009 decision to close the U.S. military base at the country’s Manas airfield caught many by surprise. The decision was not preceded by domestic debate about a possible…

The Bulava Missile: What Propels Its Unsteady Flight?

Bulava, a solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), has been developed as part of a new-generation system for the naval component of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad. The Bulava’s deployment onboard the…

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PONARS Eurasia Podcast

PONARS Eurasia