Anca Parmena Olimid (Craiova): Notes Towards a New Geopolitics in the Balkans: Old National Ideologies Vs. New Religious Beliefs. From Studies of Transition States and Societies, Abel Polese (TLU): Language and Identity in Ukraine: Was it Really Nation-Building?; and Donnacha O Beachain (DCU): Social and Political Perceptions of the Borat Phenomenon in Kazakhstan: Evidence from a Case Study of University Students. Europe’s ugly little dictatorship: Paul Wells on Alexander Lukashenko’s violent, corrupt, economically and morally bankrupt government. From the Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy, here is the entry on privatization. What happened when Turkmenistan’s President for Life died? Frozen ties: A review essay on Russia. Propagandastan: Why is the Pentagon spending tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars to whitewash the image of Central Asian dictatorships? Life as an expat reaches Latvia: Surprised to find himself living there, Robert Cottrell is even more surprised to find it beguiling. From the Toronto Review, can Kyrgyzstan keep its democracy? Dmitri Trenin on integrating Russia’s post-imperium. Andrew Barnes on how the field of the political-economy of post-communism has evolved over the past 20 years. Martin W. Lewis on mega-nationalist fantasy maps of the Balkans. From Salon, Justin Elliot on Obama’s Central Asian human rights disaster; and dictators rely on D.C. front men: Professors and lobbyists tout Central Asia's autocrats in Washington. From NYRB, Timothy Snyder on Ukraine’s last chance. I like Mostar: are there really no tourists who want to go to Bosnia? James Kirchick on Belarus, the land of no applause. The Civil Archipelago: How far can the resistance to Vladimir Putin go?
