Word: westly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Iran follows through on a draft deal to send much of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further processing into fuel for a medical-research reactor, Moscow is in the middle. If the agreement works, it will boost Russia's international role, securing gratitude from the West without damaging Russia's ties to Tehran. If the accord falls through - or Iran agrees but does not comply - Moscow's support will be essential in imposing U.N. sanctions. China won't come along if Russia doesn't, and the Iranians know it. (See pictures of Obama in Russia...
...years, the Berlin Wall stood as a symbol of the division between Eastern and Western Europe. So when East and West Berliners tore it down one night in November of 1989, it seemed as though this division would break down, too. Communist regimes throughout the region were replaced by democratically elected governments, and in 1991 even the mighty Soviet Union broke apart...
Cities on both sides of this line are full of modern skyscrapers and designer retailers from the West, but the statues that grace their parks and squares make it clear which side of the line one is on. In Budapest, Lenin can only be found in the kitschy Statue Park outside the city, but he still stands in the center of Simferopol, the capital of the Autonomous Region of Crimea in Ukraine, and his name graces buildings and even the metro system in Moscow...
...where the Red Army’s presence there after the Second World War played a large role in installing a communist government. It’s not unreasonable that Russians should look back on their past with mixed feelings, at least. However, the divergent views in East and West about the communist past point to a more significant difference in each region’s dealings with present-day Russia...
Even disregarding Russian policies, the political divide between West and East has barely decreased since 1989. Ukraine is the only non-NATO country to be rated “free” in Freedom House’s most recent analysis of the former Soviet Socialist Republics, and even democratic Ukraine is the focus of Russian attempts to influence its presidential election in January. Although Western brand names are making inroads in many of these countries, opening stores and making goods available that would have been unheard of in communist days, democratic elections and free speech are often still lacking...