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Government & Politics
Iran, Algeria, Sudan, and Venezuela Have One Major Similarity
On matters of history, culture, and geopolitics, Venezuela, Algeria, and Sudan seem distinctly different from Iran. Yet, all four have one thing in common.
The seemingly omnipotent regimes in each of these countries are on increasingly shaky ground after years of corruption, public deception, and coercion. Protests in Venezuela, Algeria, and Sudan…
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The Role of Oligarchs in Ukraine’s 2019 Presidential Elections
Regardless of who wins the 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections, the country’s foreign policy and geopolitical orientation will remain mostly unchanged.
Ukraine will remain aligned with the West and the United States; all major candidates support both E.U. and NATO integration and have pledged to, one way or another, reestablish Ukrainian…
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Putin’s “State of the Nation” Speech, Examined
Each year, the President of Russia delivers a "State of the Nation" speech to the country's parliament in which he discusses the current state of the country, what the future holds, as well as his plans for how best to achieve that future.
While not as traditional as the president's New Years Address, the State of the Nation speeches an…
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The Twin Goals of Peace and Elections in Afghanistan
What will it take to reach a peace settlement? More than anything, Afghanistan needs national leadership.
The Taliban held its fourth round of direct talks with the United States in January of 2019. This month the group revealed it will participate in a fifth meeting with the aim of agreeing on a set of issues and to craft a framework for ending…
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Mohammad Haneef Atmar: The Silent Unifier
At first encounter, he is polite, cordial, and a good listener. He counts his words wisely and delivers his sentences with pauses, but in a calculated manner to make his point. Meet Mohammad Haneef Atmar, the powerful former Afghan National Security Advisor of the National Unity Government and currently the most formidable candidate challenging the…
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Corruption in Eastern Europe & Central Asia Is On the Rise
According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), corruption appears to be on the rise in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. To the well-read citizen, this is not surprising.
Reports of Ukrainian state capture, Russian corruption, and bribery in other Eastern European and Central Asian states are on the rise. In all of…
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Trial by Fire: Guaidó Calls on Venezuela to Oust Maduro
Stoking the Flames
Venezuela kicked 2019 off with a turbulent and fragile political start of the year. President Nicolás Maduro began his second presidential term on January 10th. The May 20th presidential election last year was internationally decried as illegitimate by the United States and the 14-member Lima Group throughout the region. On…
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The Politics of Ballots over Bullets: Afghan Elections and Peace Process
The electoral scene is set for the Afghan presidential elections.
Eighteen candidates have registered themselves for what is ultimately expected to be a tight race between the incumbent, President Ashraf Ghani and his charismatic former National Security Advisor, Mohammad Haneef Atmar, who has assembled a strong team of political heavyweights.…
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Georgian Constitutional Reforms Alter Presidency
The election coincides with constitutional reforms that will change Georgia's system of governance.
After a contentious election and subsequent runoff, Salome Zurabishvili claimed victory as the next President of Georgia. The 2018 Georgian Presidential Elections mark the final stage in a process introduced by former President Mikhail Saakashvili…
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November Elections in Eastern Ukraine Unlikely to Bring Major Change
The elections threaten an increasingly unstable status quo in Ukraine's eastern provinces.
On November 11, elections will be held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR, respectively). The outcome of the elections will determine the heads of government and state in both regions.
Western governments have…
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Pro-Russia and Populist Parties Gain Support in Latvia
As Latvia's election results were tallied on the first Saturday of October, many domestic and international observers were shocked to see that the center-left, pro-Russia "Harmony" party won 19.9 percent of the votes and will receive 23 seats out of Latvia’s 100-seat parliament. However, is there really reason to be surprised?…
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The New European Triumvirate: Spain as a Leading Power in the European Union
Madrid Returns to European Politics
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 left Spain scrambling to reassemble a broken economy and combat soaring unemployment. European austerity measures and Catalonian dreams of independence have since occupied all of Madrid’s bandwidth and effectively back-seated Spanish foreign policy for over a decade. With the…
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