Russia

How Euromaidan Saved NATO

The article is based on a presentation prepared for Lennart Meri Conference 2014.

What if Euromaidan had turned out differently? The Berkut brutalities of 30 Nov and 11 Dec only inflamed protests. But the introduction of the draconian law package No. 3879 on 17 Jan could have been followed by a more sustained and violent campaign against Euromaidan. Intimidation, personal targetting, terror in the streets and maximum use of Titushky, Berkut and the heavily Russian infiltrated SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) special forces could have broken the back of Euromaidan. What would have followed?

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On deterrence and defense: the case of Estonia

Russian annexation of Crimea, although couched in a referendum and an appeal by the Crimean Russians for “protection”, has suddenly reinforced a reality that in the last two decades most of the Europeans have rather wanted to forget: that military force is still useable currency and Russia has a President who does not seem to shirk from using it.

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Back to the Frontier

Preventing a new fault line from emerging on Europe’s northeastern ensures that the process of democratic transition may again be strengthened in its journey eastward, not only in Eastern Europe but possibly, one day, in Russia itself.

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The DDoS and Defacement Attacks of “Anonymous Ukraine” and “CCD COE”: interactions between “patriotic” hackers, media and political leadership in cyberspace

Attribution of cyberattacks is difficult and may take considerable time and resources. Many cyber security experts believe that to make sense of politically-motivated cyber incidents, the political and geopolitical context must be considered. The recent cyber incidents that took place in the Baltic countries and Ukraine during the NATO military exercise Steadfast Jazz (held in Poland and the Baltic States on November 2-9) provide a good opportunity to examine relationships between hacktivists, government-controlled media, as well as the possibility of links between “patriotic hacktivists” with elements within governments. The recent cyber incidents are remarkable also for their sequencing: when some Estonian and Latvian government websites came under distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, there was also an attempt to connect the Tallinn-based NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) with faked emails and defacement of webpages in Ukraine. What is more, both types of cyber incidents were used by Russian government- controlled and owned media outlets to misinform Russian speaking community in Russia and at its “near-abroad” about NATO.

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Transnistria – a soviet “antique” replica playing a strategic role in the EaP future

On any given summer Saturday morning in Tallinn, tourists can be found walking up and down the Balti Jaam flea market hoping to find a unique piece of the former Soviet era—whether military uniforms, pins or medals, portraits of Lenin, and red Communist Party membership cards. Unfortunately, these visitors rarely realize that since the supply of such relics is of course finite, the majority of them are cheap, newly-made copies—part of an industry that in a bizarre way is keeping the Soviet Union alive.

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