CONFLICTS - FROZEN AND HOT
Georgia's Tough Choices
How the Ukrainian war is forcing the South Caucasus nation of Georgia to choose between West and East.
8 Dec 2022
Moldova: Next in Line?
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could Moldova be next?
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the citizens of neighbouring Moldova have been looking anxiously over the border.
17 Jun 2022
Bosnia: Testing the Peace
The scars of Bosnia's devastating civil war have never fully healed but, for years, this divided country has kept a fragile peace. Now, with Ukraine on fire and Europe on high alert for Russian meddling elsewhere across the continent, the mood is increasingly uneasy.
Apr 14, 2022
The Battle for Belarus
Thousands of refugees are stranded on the border between Belarus and the European Union in an emergency engineered by Belarus's authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko. But to many of his battle-weary political opponents, the president's latest departure from international norms is just another example of his cavalier attitude to human rights.
Dec 2, 2021
Kosovo: Murder in Mitrovica
Two decades ago, the small Balkan state of Kosovo was fighting to secede from neighbouring Serbia, which was resisting the final break-up of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This has since been recognised by a majority of nations in the world, but not Serbia, which still claims sovereignty over the state. What does the killing of a Kosovo Serb politician reveal about the deep fault lines running through the Balkan state?
31 May 2018
The Odessa File
Over the past decade Ukraine has been battered by insurrection, economic crises, and the loss of Crimea to Russia. Now, with tension in the east continuing and millions driven from their homes by war, a new battle is under way – against deeply entrenched corruption and over mighty oligarchs, who still exercise such power and control over the country’s assets that many fear Ukraine’s very existence is under threat.
11 Aug 2016
Defiance of the Mapuche
The Mapuche of Argentina and Chile have been pushed to the brink of insurrection in defence of their ancient lands. Increasingly forceful Mapuche activists, determined to establish their rights through direct action, have clashed with correspondingly belligerent security forces – the latter egged on, say protesters, by right-wing, pro-business governments in both countries. After occupations, demonstrations, security raids, a rash of arson attacks on timber estates, the murder of activists by police, matters are beginning to spiral out of control.
11 Jan 2018
Russia: The Orthodox connection
What lies behind the close relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and President Vladimir Putin?
Under communism the Russian Orthodox Church was suppressed – its property confiscated, its followers ridiculed, harassed and imprisoned.
But these days, a resurgent and muscular church is central to President Vladimir Putin‘s ideas of Russian identity – an echo chamber, say critics – to Kremlin policies at home and abroad.
19 Oct 2017
Moldova: Under the influence
The central European Republic of Moldova is divided along many of the same political fault lines similar to that of its eastern neighbour Ukraine, of which it has witnessed a descent into violence in recent months.
Now, with the conflict between Moscow-backed separatists and the government in eastern Ukraine getting bloodier by the day, there are increasing fears that Moldova could be next.
17 Jul 2014
Panama: Village of the damned
Away from its busy capital city and famous canal, Panama is one of the world’s most ecologically diverse nations.
Yet huge new hydroelectric dam projects now underway are seeing pristine rivers damned and virgin rainforest flooded.
The government says it is vital for economic growth, big business is cashing in and even the UN has awarded carbon credits on the basis that the resultant energy will be ‘sustainably’ produced.
14 Apr 2012