Black Sea

The Post-Soviet Wars: Part II

The previous article, The Post-Soviet Wars: Part I, advanced a causal explanation for the post-Soviet wars, the wars that broke out in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. To...

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The Post-Soviet Wars: Part I

The New Eurasia Energy Landscape: Conference Report

By some measures, Eurasia’s energy landscape has changed more in the past several years than in the previous several decades. The price of oil remains at half its level of four years ago and shows no sign of rising....

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Of Little Green Men and Long Black Robes: The Role of the Orthodox Church in the Conflict in Ukraine

It is an honor to have been invited to present the twenty-first Templeton Lecture on Religion and World Affairs at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. It is humbling to be part of a series that has included scholars whose...

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Taught in America: Democracy Promotion through Educational Exchanges

For decades, the United States has been at the forefront of international engagement. It has settled disputes and advanced democracy through supporting elections, civil society development, and often through educational exchanges. Yet, today, America’s disengagement is in the headlines....

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Russia’s Foray into the Balkans: Who Is Really to Blame?

“There are three hundred million of us,” people in Montenegro once boasted. “Together with the Russians,” they would hasten to add. The tiny state, tucked between the Adriatic Sea and the Dinaric Alps and whose population is a little...

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Geopolitical Games Expected Ahead of Moldova’s 2018 Elections

Having not yet cooled off from the 2016 presidential election, the Republic of Moldova now faces preparations for its upcoming parliamentary elections in 2018. Moldova’s main political entities, in both rhetoric and behavior, have been overwhelmingly absorbed by narrow,...

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European Leaders Discuss the Future of the Baltic and Beyond at Riga

Since 2006, the Baltic states have hosted two major annual conferences on defense and security: the Annual Baltic Conference on Defense (ABCD) and its larger sibling, the Riga Conference. These flagship conferences present the cutting edge of Baltic thought...

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Media in Moldova: Between Freedom and Monopoly

“The greatest propagandist of Moldova pretends to be the great propaganda fighter,” remarked Maia Sandu, the pro-European leader of the Action and Solidarity Party, about Vladimir Plahotniuc’s recent legislative initiative. In June 2017, Plahotniuc, the chairman of Moldova’s Democratic...

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Ukraine and Chinese Investment: Caution Amid Potential?

As Ukraine’s recent economic difficulties persist—the country registered a modest growth rate of 2.3% in 2016, and painful IMF-mandated reforms continue to progress slowly—optimistic commentators forecast an increase—and eventual surge—in Chinese investment in the country. Speculation has been driven...

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