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Key dates in the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe in 1989:
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a sharp generational schism has formed in how people in Europe's former communist countries view the shift to democracy and capitalism, a survey has found.
For four decades, the communist regimes of Eastern Europe seemed unshakeable. Yet when the end came, it unfolded with stunning speed:
The International Monetary Fund is facing key political crunch points in its dealings across Eastern Europe even though it has done much to lose its previous reputation as an advocate of austerity.
Iran's foreign minister made a rare visit to the U.S. capital Wednesday on a visa granted with unusual speed by the State Department one day before the start of nuclear talks in Geneva.
President Barack Obama abruptly canceled a long-planned missile shield for Eastern Europe on Thursday, replacing a Bush-era project that was bitterly opposed by Russia with a plan he contended would better defend against a growing threat of Iranian missiles.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the decision to abandon the Bush administration's plans for a land-based missile defense system in Eastern Europe came about because of a change in the U.S. perception of the threat posed by Iran.
Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.
President Barack Obama on Thursday shelved a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile defense shield that has been a major irritant in relations with Russia. He said a redesigned defensive system would be cheaper and more effective against the threat from Iranian missiles.
Czechs feel betrayed, Poles irked, Romanians slighted. Ask them who's to blame, and the answer may come as a surprise: President Barack Obama.
Rabbi Danny Marmorstein uses the Yiddish word "bashert" to describe how a Torah created in 19th-century Eastern Europe survived the Nazi regime in near-perfect condition and landed a world away at his tiny synagogue.
When the Sky & More mall opened in Riga in 2007, retailers hoped its expensive boutiques and upscale supermarket would draw well-off Latvians on their way home to the pine-forested neighborhoods on the capital's north side.
A group of prominent former Eastern European leaders wrote to President Barack Obama on Thursday that their region is gripped by anxiety that his efforts to reach out to Russia could lead him to forget their interests.
President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that Russia will still deploy missiles near Poland if the United States pushes ahead with a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
European leaders marked the 20th anniversary of the symbolic fall of the Iron Curtain, often described as the first crack in the Berlin Wall and one of the key episodes leading to the end of communism in Eastern Europe, in Budapest on Saturday.
This summer, the guy running the Tilt-A-Whirl at the beach might be a laid-off, middle-aged accountant instead of the usual bored teenager. And the towel boy at the pool might be from East Providence instead of Eastern Europe.
In a March 24 story about World Health Organization's annual report on tuberculosis, The Associated Press incorrectly quoted Tido von Schoen-Angerer, the executive director of Doctors Without Borders, on regions affected. He said, "We have a situation with very little progress, particularly in Africa and Eastern Europe and Central Asia." He did not cite Central Europe.
Concerns over a a potential meltdown in Eastern Europe are causing instability in global markets, South Korea's finance minister said Thursday.
After Ukraine's currency collapsed in the global meltdown, so did Valery Ilyin's household finances — and, he fears, his family's dream of a bigger home.
President Barack Obama's push to reset U.S.-Russian relations took a huge stride when he signaled the Kremlin he might forgo an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe if Moscow uses its clout with a troublesome Iran and its nuclear ambitions.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he has told Russia that reducing Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon would in turn lessen the need for a U.S.-planned missile defense system in Eastern Europe that Moscow has opposed. But Obama said he sought no "quid pro quo" with Moscow.
Eastern Europe's struggling banks will receive euro24.5 billion ($31.1 billion) worth of emergency help to shore up their battered finances, leading international financial institutions said Friday ahead of a meeting of regional leaders this weekend.
The new Obama administration wants to start fresh with Russia and the time is near to resume wider NATO cooperation with Moscow despite its invasion of Georgia last summer, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.
Asian stock markets dropped early Wednesday as U.S. markets plummeted toward last year's lows and investors began losing hope that governments can rescue the world's economies from slipping deeper into recession.
Violent political protests sweeping parts of Eastern Europe have spread to Lithuania, where police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a rock-throwing mob attacking Parliament.
Zizek: 20 Years of Collapse - "If capitalism is really so much better than Socialism, why are our lives still miserable?"TODAY is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Debacle in Moscow by Charles Krauthammer"About the only thing more comical than Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize was the reaction of those who deemed the award "premature," as if the brilliance of Obama's foreign policy is so self-evident and its success so assured that if only the Norway Five had waited a few years, h …
RealClearPolitics - Guru AmericaPresident Obama last week flew to Copenhagen to persuade the International Olympic Committee to award the 2016 games to Chicago, his hometown. He and first lady Michelle Obama delivered their now well-known inspirational stories about their Chicago neighborhood experiences.
Way to avoid new Cold War is for Russia to join NatoNow that the United States and Russia have kissed and made up over missile defence in Eastern Europe, there's a logical next step to averting a new Cold War. Russia should join Nato.
How Obama Flubbed His Missile Message. by Gerald Posner. September 18, 2009 | 12:39amAn interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, at age 81. Scrapping missile defense was the right thing to do, says former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski—but how the U.S. conveyed the decision to its Eastern European allies couldn't have been worse.
Did US and NATO do a deal with Russia to scrap missile defense shield and isolate China on Iran?Three articles: Did the US do a deal with Russia?
Putin pushed, Obama buckledIronically, Obama's announcement came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland at the start of World War II -- an event that underscores Warsaw's longstanding fear of aggression from the east.
Stalin still looms large over eastern EuropeVladimir Putin is due in Poland on Tuesday to stand with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Polish leaders to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the second world war. But this show of unity belies deep divisions about the war, its causes and its consequences.
Romanian evictions: a political matter not a private one...Continue troubles in Northern Ireland over Romanian immigrants: is a tier system of right equivalent to racism? From an Amnesty blog.
Moldova: Poorest European Nation Topples Communist RuleIn Wednesday's parliamentary elections, Moldovans have voted to unseat the ruling communist party, but the political future of the country remains uncertain due to the complexity of Moldovan laws.
UNIAN [19.06.2009 ] Soros donates $100 million to EuropePhilanthropist George Soros has given 100M to the EU to assist in meeting needs of at risk strata in former soviet bloc countries.
Hannity again crops Obama's comments abroad in order to smear himexcerpt: ""SUMMARY: Sean Hannity deceptively cropped President Obama's answer to a question about the Cold War to suggest that Obama did not acknowledge the actions of past U.S. presidents in freeing Eastern Europe. ""
Michelle Obama bringing glamour to MoscowThe first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands.
Michelle Obama bringing glamour to MoscowThe first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands.
VIDEO: Stratfor CEO George Friedman examines issues attendant to upcoming US-Russia Summit"In the latest installment of the STRATFOR Insights video series, CEO George Friedman analyzes the upcoming summit July 6-8 between Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama from a geopolitical perspective.
Polish Catholic activists in a bid to stop Madonna's concert in Warsaw on August 15, the Feast of the AssumptionCatholics in Poland have formed a protest committee in a bid to stop a concert in Warsaw by the US singer Madonna on the day that the Catholic Church worldwide celebrates the assumption into heaven of Mary, the mother of Jesus - writes Jonathan Luxmoore.
The End Game in Iran: Four Ways the Crisis May ResolveSome observers see Iran's courageous protests against a stolen election as a replay of the 1979 revolution that ended the tyranny of the Shah — or of the "velvet revolutions" that ended communism in Eastern Europe. Others fear a repeat of China's 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Experts Encourage Action Against Sex Trafficking This is from news of the UN that the biggest growing problem is sex trafficking. It is going to be a bigger crime problem than drugs. I had been looking on something more on the problem in the Ukraine about sex trafficking that was in the PBS movie.
It really upsets me when people throw out attack code words to accuse people of not being as 'American' as they are, for daring to have different beliefs and / or ideas than they do... especially when the people using those words don't even know what they mean.
U.S. wins first seat on U.N. rights councilThe U.S. won a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council for the first time Tuesday along with four countries accused of serious human rights violations - Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.
Five years after entry to the EU: Eastern European countries in crisis The Eastern European EU states now collectively confront economic collapse. Hungary, Latvia and Romania have only been rescued from bankruptcy by massive international assistance and economies are plunging into recession across Eastern Europe.
EU launches 'Eastern Partnership' The European Union has launched a plan to forge close political and economic ties with six former Soviet republics in exchange for democratic reforms.
Interrogation Debate Sharply Divided Bush White HouseThe proclamation that President George W. Bush issued on June 26, 2003, to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture seemed innocuous, one of dozens of high-minded statements published and duly ignored each year.
Opposition supporters in Georgia have begun a fifth day of protests, calling on President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down. GEORGIA Thousands of opposition supporters in Georgia have begun a fifth day of protests, calling on President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down.
Moldova: Violent protests in aftermath of electionsMOLDOVA Bloody street fighting in the wake of parliamentary elections in Moldova held on April 5 has focused international attention on the former Soviet republic situated between Romania and Ukraine.
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