Epstein Secrets

A display of supremacy In December 2011, members of the Russian opposition obtained video evidence of ballot stuffing committed by operatives from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in that month's parliamentary elections. A series of unusu- ally large protests ensued. Putin weathered the furor and went on t

n authoritarians. Again, Russia has taken the lead, with the state's asser- tion of authority over history textbooks and the process, encouraged by Putin, of reassessing the historical role of Joseph Stalin. • The hiring of political consultants and lobbyists from democratic countries to represent t

hinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. 2016. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

lution as the latest form of American interventionism, and began a process of restricting Russian NGOs that was to reach a climax a decade later. Yanukovych eventually won the presidency in a 2010 comeback. but a second protest-driven revolution www.freedomhouse.org 23 EFTA00804747 BREAKING DOWN DEM

religious harmony, boast of government policies to ensure fair treatment for Russia's large Muslim population, and denounce those who brought down Yanukovych's government in Ukraine as fascists and pogromists. Yet when it comes to potential allies in Europe, it makes no difference to the Kremlin whether

+0000 28 February, 2014 Article I. The National Interest Ukraine: Will Putin Strike? Joergen Oerstroem Moeller Article 2. The Washington Post Putin's Ukraine gambit Charles Krauthammer Article 3. The Daily Beast Does Alleged Corruption Video Spell the End Of Erdogan? Thomas Seibert Article

Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgium per year. All undone, of course, by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century." Putin's mission is restoration. First, restore traditional Russian despotism

A00684328 For those in doubt, suffice to recall President Putin's statement in 2006 that the collapse of the Sov

apse of the Soviet Union, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called "the greatest geopolitical catastro

ers in the the East to spearhead such a move. The opening moves of this scenario may already be playing out, given the rising tension in Crimea and Yanukovych's flight. It is anybody's guess what the endgame might look like. Having watched and analysed the U.S. stance vis-à-vis Iran's alleged nuclear-weap

stinian— Israeli peace talks Barakat El-Farra Article 4. Foreign Affairs The Czar of Brinkmanship Cynthia A. Roberts Article S. Al Jazeera Is Putin going all the wav in Ukraine? Peter Zalmayev Article 6. Project Syndicate The Techno-Political Transformation Klaus Schwab Article 7. Bloomber

master in the Kremlin may go all the way in his Ukrainian adventure and there is little stopping him; and 2) Ukraine is a crucial battleground for Vladimir Putin's emerging new doctrine and a decisive test of the western resolve. To the last point, I would add that Putin's emerging "New Russia" doctrine serves

o discern the precise limits to Russian President Vladimir Putin's willingness to escalate the crisis in Uk

s, who wanted their country to be oriented toward the European Union. Putin finally brought Yanukovych around, but this sparked the Maidan revolt, Yanukovych's rapid exit, and Putin's need to shift strategies. For both Khrushchev and Putin, a competition in risk-taking offered a beguiling EFTA00662757

utin Goes to War David Remnick March 1, 2014 -- Vladimir Putin, the Russian President and autocrat, had a

costs, and recent history has shown that when it considers its interests at stake, Russia has been willing to pay the price. Even before President Vladimir V. Putin on Saturday publicly declared his intent to send Russian troops into the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Mr. Obama and his team were already discuss

ent Russian news site, how the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, in 1979, under the pretext of helping a "fraternal" ally in Kabul; to Parkhomenko, Putin's decision to couch his military action as the "protection" of Russians living in Crimea is an equally transparent pretext. The same goes for the d

e English-language Kyiv Post published a classic in the genre when it reported how journalists arriving at the "inner sanctum" of the mansion where Yanukovych had lived in splendor discovered that he had been cohabiting not with his wife of four decades but, rather, with—and try not to faint—a younger wom

co The Ambivalent Superpower Robert Kagan Anecle I. NYT What Is Russia's Aim in Ukraine? Ed t o r a 1 EFTA00684250 Feb. 28, 2014 -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia played the genial host at the Olympic Games in Sochi, but his dangerous approach to geopolitics could be his true legacy. On Friday, Ukr

e promising to defend the interests of Russian citizens in Ukraine, Moscow has said it will not intervene by force. EFTA00684251 But whether Mr. Putin will abide by that promise is unclear. In 2008, he sent Russian forces into neighboring Georgia, ostensibly to protect the secessionist Georgian en

r a 1 EFTA00684250 Feb. 28, 2014 -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia played the genial host at the Ol

o the verge of military confrontation. The pro-Russia region of Crimea is seething, and the new central government that took over in Kiev after Mr. Yanukovych fled is barely functioning. President Obama, speaking at the White House, was right to warn Russia against any military move and to indicate that