PONARS Eurasia 7 - PONARS Eurasia

Russia and the EU: A New ‘Balance of Self-Confidence’

Most observers agree that in the latter half of the past decade, the EU-Russian relationship lacked substance, despite official parlance characterizing it as a “strategic partnership.” True, Russian energy kept…

Mapping an Alternative Future for Belarus

Since the December 2010 presidential elections in Belarus, the level of drama permeating the country has been on the rise. There have been arrests and trials of prominent opposition figures,…

Russia’s ‘Over-Managed Democracy’ in Crisis

Two years ago, when evaluating the hybrid regime of “over-managed democracy” (OMD) that Vladimir Putin constructed during his two presidential terms, I concluded that this regime was transitory; it had…

Political Turmoil in the Northwestern Black Sea Rim: Ukraine, Moldova and Transnistria

We are witnessing the third wave of constitutional readjustment after the collapse of communism in post-Soviet Eurasia. Following the establishment of founding constitutional regimes in the early 1990s, the second…

Finlandization or Strategy of Keeping the Balance? Azerbaijan’s Foreign Policy Since the Russian-Georgian War

The two years since the end of the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war have represented a critical stage in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. The war generated a new source of instability and…

Russia and the Eastern Partnership States in a New European Security Architecture

President Dmitry Medvedev’s European security initiatives of 2008-2009, culminating in his draft European Security Treaty of November 2009, sparked considerable debate regarding the potential and desirability of a new European…

EU-Russia Visa Talks: Open and Hidden Agendas

One of the most serious problems on the agenda of Russia-EU relations is the strict visa regime between Russia and the 25 European countries that share common external border controls…

Patriotic Upbringing in Russia: Can it Produce Good Citizens?

Over the last decade, the main trend of Russian government youth policy has been to encourage patriotic upbringing. Various official bodies, educational institutions, youth clubs, and pedagogical researchers have adhered…

Will the Financial Crisis Lead to Political Change in Russia?

It is widely accepted that the stability of Russia’s political regime and Vladimir Putin’s high approval ratings, first as president and then prime minister, have depended mainly upon a steady…

Odd Man Out Again: Explaining Belarus’ Post-Orange Transformation

A mountain of competing explanations seeks to account for the success of electoral “color revolutions” in some places and their failure in others. The comeback of Viktor Yanukovych, who was…

A Vicious Circle: The Security Implications of Rising Anti-Americanism in the North Caucasus

While attending a conference on combating terrorism and extremism at the state university in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, in April 2010, one moment in particular made me feel as if I had…

Hard, Soft, or Human? Security Discourses in the EU, NATO, and Russia

How do Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s proposals for a new security architecture resonate in the foreign policy discourses of Russia’s two main security partners: the European Union and the North…

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PONARS Eurasia Podcast

PONARS Eurasia