AUTHOR'S BIO
F. Stephen Larrabee
F. Stephen Larrabee holds the Distinguished Chair in European Security at the Rand Corporation, and served on the National Security Council staff in the Carter Administration.
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Europe’s Ukrainian Test
F. Stephen Larrabee and Taras Kuzio Series: Europe at Home and Abroad 2011-06-30The recent start of the trial in Kiev of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko raises grave concerns about President Viktor Yankovych’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. In reality, it is his regime, not Tymoshenko, that is on trial, along with the EU’s willingness to defend democracy in its own neighborhood.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 5534
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The Turkish Chimera
F. Stephen Larrabee Series: The World in Words 2011-03-23
Many Arab democratizers nowadays regard Turkey’s fusion of moderate Islam and Westernization as a possible model for the Middle East. But Turkey’s historical experience and political evolution differ in important ways from Arab countries', making its model difficult, if not impossible, to transplant.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 2 Read: 14840
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Don’t Lose Ukraine
Taras Kuzio and F. Stephen Larrabee Series: The World in Words 2010-06-25US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Ukraine on July 4-5 provides an important opportunity to re-affirm America's commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and democratic evolution. Such a signal is of critical importance, because Ukraine’s hard-won independence and ability to pursue closer Euro-Atlantic ties are under threat. ... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 11784
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Building on Greek-Turkish Detente
F. Stephen Larrabee and Charles Ries Series: Europe at Home and Abroad 2010-05-10
The world remains focused on the Greek financial crisis, but an important positive spin-off could be a deeper Greek-Turkish détente. Greece’s high defense spending has fueled to its economic woes, and better relations with Turkey would enable Prime Minister George Papandreou to cut spending, thereby helping to rescue the economy while promoting regional stability.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 8490
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Ukraine: The Next Crisis?
F. Stephen Larrabee Series: The World in Words 2008-09-03Georgia's pro-Western orientation never posed a serious strategic threat to Russia, but Ukraine's NATO ambitions clearly do. Aside from energy leverage, Russia could use Ukraine's Crimea region, with its majority Russian population, to pressure Ukraine into changing course, in the same way that it used Abkhazia and South Ossetia to justify its invasion of Georgia.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 14582
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Turkey’s War of Nerves
F. Stephen Larrabee Series: The World in Words 2007-05-09Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to call an early parliamentary election is unlikely to defuse tensions with the country's military, which sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular political order. At the same time, the current crisis underscores that Turkey still faces a long road before it becomes a mature, modern democracy, in which the military accepts a less intrusive role in politics.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 12678
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Mismanaging Missile Defense
F. Stephen Larrabee and Andrzej Karkosza Series: The World in Words 2007-04-25Rather than enhancing European security, the Bush administration’s plan to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic threatens to increase strains with Russia and deepen divisions with America’s European allies. Indeed, by treating missile defense as a technological issue divorced from its political context, America is risking its standing is in Eastern Europe, where support for US polices has been strongest.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 11362
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Central Asia’s Other Turkmenbashis
F. Stephen Larrabee Series: The Asian Century 2007-01-11A dictator’s sudden death almost always triggers political instability. But it is doubly dangerous when it poses a risk of region-wide destabilization and a scramble for influence among the world’s greatest military powers – the United States, Russia, and China. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 18143
