Tag Archives: putin

Go back to Start, do not collect $200bn

Posted on May 18, 2014 by

Sometimes words can hurt more than actions. Last week, the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi said that capital flight from Russia might be four times as high as reported by Russia’s government. So far, the finance ministry … Continue reading →

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On the brink

Posted on April 16, 2014 by

As I am writing this blog entry, something that worryingly resembles the beginning of a civil war is underway in Eastern Ukraine. The triple strategy of the Ukrainian government – send in the military but restrain its activity, ask for … Continue reading →

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Russia’s greatest challenges for the next decade

Posted on April 12, 2014 by

I recently authored a report for Wikistrat, based on a collaborative brainstorming exercise of more than forty global experts, on Russia’s greatest challenges for the next decade. The crowdsourced analysis took place in February, before the formal annexation of Crimea, … Continue reading →

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Storm clouds from Crimea

Posted on April 2, 2014 by

The invasion of Crimea was a reality check for all of us that assumed that Russia had been integrated into a rule-based global system and was working fairly rationally. As I have blogged before, most of us were wrong about … Continue reading →

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Time machine

Posted on March 16, 2014 by

I have repeatedly blogged about the tremendous costs Russia would incur by annexing Crimea. As the referendum on the peninsula’s joining Russia takes place today, those costs are still there in the background: if the Russian government accepts the peninsula … Continue reading →

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Call my bluff

Posted on February 26, 2014 by

There it is: the longer, more violent and potentially more dangerous version of the Orange Revolution turned Ukraine around and put Viktor Yanukovych out to grass for good. Partly because of Yanukovych tragically poor political skills but also because of … Continue reading →

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The failed disciple #2 – The failing master

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

This is the end of Viktor Yanukovych’s political career. The reason is still the same that I pointed out a month ago: he is a petty tyrant, but more importantly, a bad politician. Following the clashes of the past two … Continue reading →

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