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

he sense that they are not free to make fundamental decisions about their political systems, their trading partners, and whether to integrate into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Their national identity and existence as states are reg- ularly cast into doubt. Democratic reform often takes a back seat to securit

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

an April 17 interview, Putin declared, "We have reached a point beyond which we cannot retreat." The Kremlin's determination to stop the advance of Euro-Atlantic institutions was signaled in a smaller campaign against Georgia in 2008. Now Putin also implies that Russia would begin to treat a broad swath of s

ern 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 th

represent undue interference in their domestic affairs and a violation of national pre- rogatives. 3. Dictatorship of law: Initially articulated by Vlad- imir Putin, this phrase has come to signify the adoption of laws that are so vaguely written as to www.freedomhouse.org HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019241 --- PAGE BREAK

o cast ballots than it is for Hungarian citizens who are tempo- rarily working in Europe or elsewhere. ¢ Asa matter of high priority, both Orban and Pu- tin have secured domination over the judiciary with the goal of removing its role as a check on their power. ‘Law and Justice’ in Poland Like Hungary,

ernment. ls Orban a Central European version of Putin? Orban's domestic critics have often compared his governing style to that of Russian president Vladimir Putin. On the surface, the comparison seems unfair. Hungary is still rated Free by Freedom House. It still has genuine opposition parties, however we