The Ivanov Report. Impressions russes | par Hugo Natowicz. The Power Vertical. Every time Vladimir Putin opens his mouth, the goalposts seem to move. After speaking with the Kremlin leader by telephone this week, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev said Putin told him that Ukraine's 1991 independence referendum -- and therefore the subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union -- was "not really legal. " The Russian president's comment, which spread like wildfire on social media, could not be independently confirmed. But given that Putin has called the Soviet breakup the "greatest tragedy of the 20th century," it certainly seemed plausible. And it served as as the latest reminder that with the Crimean crisis, we have entered into a new phase of the post-Soviet and post-Cold War period. "Russia resorted to military force because it wanted to signal a game change," Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Sofia-based Center for Liberal Strategies wrote in "Foreign Affairs.
" The Incredible Shrinking 'Collective Putin' Putin, it appears, has made his choice. The Best Laid Plans. Vostok Infos | Géopolitique, défense et histoire dans l'espace post-soviétique. Eurasia Daily Monitor - The Jamestown Foundation. Les Echos de Tbilissi. Russia Blog: Ten Myths about Russia’s Demography.
Caucasian Knot. Yannick Harrel / Яник Аррель Cyberstratégie Est-Ouest / Киберстр. Russian Military Reform.