‘WINDOW ON EURASIA’ REOPENS

Eurasia Map

(Paul Goble – Dec. 12, 2021) I am happy to report that my health situation has stabilized sufficiently to allow me to prepare Windows on Eurasia again. I have managed to keep up my daily surveys of URLs since mid-October but only more recently have been able to prepare my own posts on them. Because I was not certain how […]

» Read more

Kremlin Denies Eyeing Territorial Claims After Putin’s Comments In Documentary

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

The Kremlin has denied it has any territorial claims on former Soviet republics after … Putin appeared to question the redrawn borders of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK: “Most Russians Don’t Believe ‘Western Meddling’ Is to Blame for Moscow Protests, Poll Says” – Moscow Times

Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 3, 2019) A majority of Russians don’t believe in the authorities’ claim that Western powers are to blame for election protests in Moscow this summer, according to the independent Levada Center polling agency. Weeks of demonstrations over elections for the city legislature have turned into the biggest sustained protest movement in Russia since 2011-2013. […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK: “Russia sees major integration capacity in China’s One Belt One Road project – Putin” – Interfax

Map of China and Environs, adapted from image at cdc.gov

SOCHI. May 13 (Interfax) – The relations between Russia and China are developing successfully, while Moscow views China’s One Belt – One Road initiative as fruitful and substantive, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “At the beginning of talks I would like to convey the best wishes to my friend [Chinese President Xi Jinping] for warmness, with which we have been […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin] News conference following working visit to China” – KremlinRu

Asia Map

(Kremlin.ru – April 27, 2019 – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/60396) Vladimir Putin spoke to journalists following the Roundtable discussions at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. There will be no opening remarks. I am ready to answer your questions. Question: Good afternoon. The Belt and Road is a very ambitious project – to the […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin lauds China infrastructure initiative, warming ties” – AP

Map of China and Environs, adapted from image at cdc.gov

“… Putin praised China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative … underscoring warming ties between the neighboring powers. Putin’s comments … to a forum in Beijing appeared to downplay the potential for tensions between China and Russia. … [and] reflect Beijing and Moscow’s shared resistance to U.S. global influence. The Belt and Road is rapidly expanding China’s economic footprint in Central […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK: “Putin: One Belt, One Road initiative lays down int’l relations principles that are relevant today” – Interfax

Asia Map

BEIJING. April 26 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for the invitation to take part in the One Belt, One Road forum, adding he sees that this initiative keeps developing. “It has proven to be immensely timely and successful. It is taking on a global nature and is starting to lay down the principles […]

» Read more

Putin, Dozens Of Other Leaders Gather In China For ‘Belt And Road’ Summit

Asia Map

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – April 25, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/dozens-of-world-leaders-arrive-in-china-for-belt-and-road-forum/29902631.html) Leaders from dozens of countries have begun arriving in Beijing to attend the April 25-27 Belt and Road Forum. China’s $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative seeks to create new rail, road, port, and energy infrastructure that links […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Second Eurasian Women’s Forum” – KremlinRu

Tauride Palace file photo - adapted from image © A.Savin, Wikimedia Commons

(Kremlin.ru – September 20, 2018 – http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/58598) Vladimir Putin attended the Second Eurasian Women’s Forum and addressed its plenary session. The Second Eurasian Women’s Forum is taking place between September 19 and 21 at major convention centres and cultural venues in the historical centre of St Petersburg. The Tavrichesky Palace and the Parliamentary Centre serve as the main venue for […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH PONARS Eurasia: “See our updated list of course syllabi & recommended reading”

Eurasia Map

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – June 15, 2017 – ponarseurasia.org/article/see-our-updated-list-course-syllabi-recommended-reading) Several PONARS Eurasia members have made their syllabi available to our readership. Visit the Course Syllabi/Recommended Reading page: ponarseurasia.org/article/see-our-updated-list-course-syllabi-recommended-reading

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “Russia’s Evolving Grand Eurasia Strategy: Will It Work?” – Carnegie Moscow Center/ Dmitri Trenin

Asia Map

“With a shift in strategy, 2014 was a pivotal year for Russia’s foreign policy. It was then that Moscow began moving away from its traditional focus on Europe and the Atlantic, with secondary attention to the former Soviet borderlands. The Ukraine crisis served as the coup de grâce for the two concepts that had guided Russian foreign policy since the […]

» Read more

Re: Findings of Bipartisan Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Subject: Findings of Bipartisan Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2017 From: Andrew S. Weiss <RussiaEurasiaProgram@carnegieendowment.org> http://carnegieendowment.org/specialprojects/TaskForceonUSPolicyToward RussiaUkraineandEurasia/ Dear Colleague, The breakdown in U.S.-Russia relations in the wake of the Ukraine crisis threatens the entire post-Cold War transatlantic security order. As the new administration prepares to reengage with Moscow, what principles should […]

» Read more

Degradation of Russian Elites Underlies Russia’s Decline, Pastukhov Says

Russia Map

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 24, 2016) “The thinning out of the Russian ‘cultural stratum’ and, as a result, the degradation of elites who have turned out to be incapable of responding to new historical challenges,” Vladimir Pastukhov says, is the underlying cause of the current decline of the country. All other causes, technological, societal and […]

» Read more

Is There A Non-West for Russia to Lead?

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Keith Darden – January 28, 2016 – ponarseurasia.org/memo/non-west-for-russia-to-lead) Keith Darden is Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) Recently, Russian policymakers and strategists have articulated a vision of a vibrant non-Western world, one in which the United States and European leaders are increasingly marginal and where Russia […]

» Read more

100 Million Fewer People Speak Russian Now than Did 25 Years Ago

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia Staunton, December 26, 2015) The number of people who speak Russian has declined by 100 million since 1989 or 27 percent, according to Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Duma committee on compatriots and Eurasian integration. (In 1989, 370 million said they spoke Russian; now, 270 million do.) But instead of seeing this as […]

» Read more

Interfax: Putin says Eurasia’s not a chessboard, it’s our home

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Interfax – July 9, 2015) Russia and its neighbours in the Eurasian landmass should not be treated as a “chessboard” or a “geopolitical playing field”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 9 July in remarks reported by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. “For us, this isn’t a chessboard, it’s not a geopolitical playing field – this is our home, and […]

» Read more

Russia Only Has Itself to Blame for Lost Influence in Post-Soviet Sphere

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 1, 2015) As Russian officials scramble to heap blame on Western NGOs for anti-government protests that have swept the Armenian capital in recent days, analysts argued that Moscow only has itself to blame for its loss of influence in the former Soviet space. More specifically, Russia has lost its regional grip […]

» Read more

Rethinking Eurasia’s future

Eurasia Map

While an economic and political union between Russia and Europe is unlikely, it could serve the interests of both sides in an increasingly hostile world. (opendemocracy.net – Nicholas Ross Smith and Zbigniew Dumienski – March 17, 2015) Nicholas Ross Smith is a researcher at the University of Auckland, New Zealand in the field of international relations. He has published extensively […]

» Read more

EVENT: ASN 2015 World Convention Preliminary Program (New York, April 23-25)

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

Subject: To Post: ASN 2015 World Convention Preliminary Program Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2015 1 From: Dominique Arel <darel@uottawa.ca> ASN 2015 WORLD CONVENTION PROGRAM 160+ PANELS ON THE BALKANS, CENTRAL EUROPE, RUSSIA, UKRAINE/BELARUS, THE CAUCASUS, EURASIA (incl. CHINA), TURKEY/GREECE, MIGRATION, and NATIONALISM STUDIES The preliminary program of the ASN 2015 World Convention can be downloaded at nationalities.org/uploads/documents/ ASN15_Preliminary_Program-6mar.pdf. The Convention, […]

» Read more

The galloping militarisation of Eurasia

Eurasia Map

(opendemocracy.net – Neil Melvin – June 16, 2014) Neil Melvin is director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme at SIPRI In recent months, attention has overwhelmingly been focused on Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. But there is a wider and more disturbing process of militarisation underway throughout the Eurasian region. Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the deployment […]

» Read more

Russia-led security bloc turns away from NATO towards China, chief slams West

Eurasia Map

(Interfax – Moscow, June 16, 2014) A decision has been taken at the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] to suspend attempts to establish dialogue with NATO, and the course has been mapped towards developing cooperation with the OSCE. “Given the situation, the council of foreign ministers (of the CSTO member states) deemed it advisable to suspend attempts to establish dialogue […]

» Read more

EU, Russia need frank discussion of European, Eurasian integration – Ushakov

EU Map

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) – There has been no progress in the forming of the four common spaces of cooperation between Russia and the European and the two sides should discuss how to match the European and Eurasian integration processes, officials in Moscow said. “We believe there is a great need for a frank, substantial conversation, including on the joint […]

» Read more

Populations of Former Soviet Republics Have Fallen or Increased Less than Projected in 1990

Map of Former Soviet Union

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 10, 2013 – Chart here: http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/11/window-on-eurasia-populations-of-former.html) The former Soviet space had 48 million fewer people living on it in 2010 than Soviet demographers in 1990 had predicted for that year, with all 15 of the states having smaller populations than were was projected for them and 10 of the 15 having […]

» Read more

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITY: Eurasia Director postion

Eurasia Map

From: Jeff Yarborough <jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org> Subject: Eurasia Director postion Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 The Open Society Foundations are currently searching for a Director to lead our Eurasia Programs. The link to position is here: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/jobs/director-eurasia-programs   Jeff Yarborough | Russia Project | Open Society Foundations | T: 212-548-0128 |F: 646-557-2473 | jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org

» Read more

Job Announcement: Center on Global Interests Program Director

Map of Former Soviet Union

From: Kerry Eickholt <keickholt@globalinterests.org> Subject: Job Announcement: Center on Global Interests Program Director Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 Center on Global Interests Program Director The Center on Global Interests (CGI) is seeking a Program Director to lead the development and implementation of its research programs. Our active programs focus on global governance in the 21st century, U.S.-Russia bilateral relations, and […]

» Read more

Eurasia Director postion

Eurasia Map

From: Jeff Yarborough <jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org> Subject: Eurasia Director postion Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 The Open Society Foundations are currently searching for a Director to lead our Eurasia Programs. The link to position is here: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/jobs/director-eurasia-programs   Jeff Yarborough | Russia Project | Open Society Foundations | T: 212-548-0128 |F: 646-557-2473 | jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org

» Read more

Post-Soviet States Increasingly Vary in Their Relations with Russia, Poll Finds

Eurasia Map

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 24, 2013) Some post-Soviet states have “left the post-Soviet space” for good, others are interested in closer ties with Russia, and still others are uncertain about where they are headed, a situation that is further complicated by differences between national leaders and their populations on this point. But any effort to […]

» Read more

EVENT & CALL FOR PAPERS: ASN 2014 Convention Call for Papers

Columbia University Campus with Main Building

From: Dominique Arel <darel@uottawa.ca> Subject: ASN 2014 Convention Call for Papers Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 Call for Papers 19th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) International Affairs Building, Columbia University, NY Sponsored by the Harriman Institute 24-26 April 2014 www.nationalities.org ***Proposal deadline: 24 October 2013*** [Please note that the deadline is earlier than […]

» Read more

Watchdog Cites ‘Troubling Deterioration’ For Civil Society In Eurasia

Map of European Portion of Former Soviet Union

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Heather Maher – June 18, 2013) Countries in Central Europe and Central Asia are increasingly being ruled by autocratic governments with little regard for democracy, according to the 2013 “Nations In Transit” report by democracy watchdog Freedom House. The result has been a worsening of existing corruption, media censorship, and violence against political opposition, the group […]

» Read more

Putin Says ‘Eurasian Integration’ Top Priority For Russia

Vladimir Putin file photo

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, June 10, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has named promoting partnership with CIS countries, enhancing Eurasian integration in the framework of the Customs Union and Single Economic Space, and creating the Eurasian Economic Union by 2015 as most important priorities of Russia’s foreign policy. At a meeting on federal executive bodies’ action plans to achieve Russian […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Russian Senior MP Says USA Cannot Disrupt Integration In Post Soviet Space

Alexei Pushkov file photo

(RIA Novosti – June 10, 2013) The USA will not be able to hinder integration processes in the post-Soviet space, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Aleksey Pushkov has said. He was speaking at a news conference in Moscow on 10 June, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on the same day. Pushkov said: […]

» Read more

Russians see CIS, China as Russia’s chief foreign-policy partners – poll

Eurasia Map

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 28, 2013) Respondents polled in Russia recently said they would prefer Russia to deal with China and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States rather than with the United States. “Asked which countries should be given priority as partners in cooperation, 28% of those polled named members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Levada Center […]

» Read more

Ukrainians split over joining EU, Russia-led Customs Union – poll

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

(Interfax – Kiev, March 21, 2013) Ukrainians have almost concurred (as received) about prospect for Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union (of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia) and signing the association agreement with the EU, a survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) between 23 February and 11 March showed. According to the survey, 41 per cent of those […]

» Read more

Post-Soviet Integration is Unstoppable – Putin

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) ­ Nothing can stop or slow down the reintegration of the post-Soviet space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “We’ve heard some recent nervous and outspoken remarks regarding integration in the post-Soviet space. Let’s put them down to the emotional rhetoric of these politicians,” Putin said at a meeting of FSB (Federal Security Service) […]

» Read more