Carnegie Moscow Center
Although U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Moldova can do much to highlight the country’s potential and to support progress already under way, the solutions to the country's lingering problems will depend on political will and creative thinking from Chisinau.
While the wave of political change sweeping through the Arab world is reminiscent of the political upheaval in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, historical analogies cannot capture the complex and dramatic events occurring or predict how this change will end.
There is widespread concern both inside Ukraine and in the international community about the country’s course as fears grow that Viktor Yanukovych’s policies are rolling back Ukraine’s political freedoms.
Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the biggest upheaval in Russia’s history—the fall of the Soviet Union—with surprisingly little bloodshed.
While the EU and the United States enacted strong repercussions for the violent crackdowns following Belarus' December presidential elections, long-term stability will require moving beyond the current political stalemate.
With emerging powers such as China, India, and Brazil capturing the limelight at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine seemed to have little to share with the world and even less to learn from it.
Built gradually on a foundation of growing consensus and electoral support, Moldova’s political change may be more sustainable in the long term than the color revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine.
The recent revolution in Tunisia demonstrates that the complete stifling of political opposition does not guarantee longevity for authoritarian regimes.
The recent reset between Russia and the West is being used by Moscow as a tool for the legitimization and perpetuation of the Russian status-quo and hasn’t prevented the strengthening of repressive policies inside Russia.
If the West responds to the recent violent crackdown in Belarus by isolating the country's people and cutting off all dialogue with the authorities in Minsk, it misses the chance to empower more forward-looking elements in Belarusian society and within the ruling regime.