There are two men named Viktor vying for control in Ukraine. The first, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, came to power in January 2005, riding high on a wave of orange-clad supporters during the aptly named Orange Revolution. The second, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, drowned in that sea of orange. Or at least many thought he did. Today, Yanukovych has consolidated his power and has once again become a relevant challenger to Yushchenko. Ironically, it was Yushchenko who approved Yanukovych as prime minister in August 2006 — but not without leaving a trail of political landmines that are exploding today. [...]
CHOICE PARIS ADDRESSES — Whoever chose the location of French presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign headquarters has a sense of humor. The large, glass-fronted but somewhat rundown Sarkozy center of operations is in the rue d’Enghien, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in the city’s 10th arrondissement. Travel agencies advertise cheap flights to Conakry, Abidjan and Tunis, and the smell of sizzling kebabs fills the air: A strange backdrop for a candidate who has made tightening up on immigration the heart of his conservative campaign. A large portrait of former interior minister Sarko (to the French) in the entrance hall is visible [...]
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Anatoly Serdyukov, the director of the Federal Tax Service since 2004, as Russia’s new defense minister. Since then, Serdyukov has kept a low profile, despite a recent visit to China to promote military cooperation and Russian arms sales with Beijing. Serdyukov was a surprising choice. Apart from serving his obligatory two years of military service after graduation from the Leningrad Institute of Commerce in 1984, Serdyukov never worked in the defense community. He has now become the first genuine civilian to head the Russian Ministry of Defense. His Russian and Soviet predecessors had [...]
