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Showing posts from August, 2018

Starting a new position

I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a new role as European Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Communications and Information Society for the duration of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is an honor to be part of a team involved in shaping this important presidency, and I am excited to contribute to the successful implementation of Romania's priorities during this period. As you may know, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates among the Member States every six months. During this time, the Member State in question is responsible for setting the EU's agenda and leading discussions on a wide range of issues, from economic policy to security and foreign affairs. As European Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Communications and Information Society, my role will be to support the Romanian government in these discussions and to ensure that our priorities are aligned with those of the European Union as a whole. This wi

Politics and international relations resources - August 2018 (E-learning edition)

OSCE Courses Countering The Use of the Internet For Terrorist Purposes Short-term elections observer United Nations Agencies Peace Operations Training Institute UN Public Administration  Network UN Institute for Training and Research United Nations Online Volunteers General online courses Coursera edX Skillshare

From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia

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From Cold War to Hot Peace introduces the reader to the complexities of the Russian society seen from the office of the US ambassador to Moscow. Ambassador McFaul is a professor of political science at Stanford University, being specialized in Slavic languages and Eastern European politics and society. The book is divided unequally in three functional parts. The first two “Revolution" and "Reset" cover the author’s upbringing and introduces us into the Soviet and later Russian complexities and dynamics of the Russian society under Vladimir Putin. I particularly enjoyed how the author walked us through his personal experience from the times of the USSR to his term as ambassador. McFaul makes a superb presentation of Russia’s first years as a democracy seen from the eyes of an American expat. In his words, the Americans and Russians were more or less on a roller-coaster path, with turns every few years. This is also true for the last American presidents. While George