Louis O'Neill
Chess, poker, and kickboxing in Moldovan politics
December 15, 2009By Louis O'Neill After hearing that his obituary has been published in "The New York Journal," Mark Twain famously quipped, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." The same could be said of the death knell sounded for...
Moldova - the Switzerland solution?
December 07, 2009By Louis O'Neill “The Istanbul Commitments.” It’s not Turks getting married. Or an Irish soul band that’s lost its way. Or even the title of a spy movie in which Matt Damon chases foreign troops and weapons out of occupied...
Moldova's Leaders Struggle To Find A Common Language
September 02, 2009By Louis O'Neill August 31 was Limba Noastra (Our Language Day) in Moldova, marking 20 years since the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic passed a language law establishing Romanian as the country's official tongue and returning...
Historical Palliatives for the Phantom-Limb Syndrome
August 25, 2009By Louis O’Neill Gallons of ink have been arrayed and countless electrons rearranged with commentary over the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and its secret protocols. Scholars, politicians, human-rights defenders, and historians...
Note to Moldova: beware the Kiev trap!
August 10, 2009By Louis O'Neill Although Moldova's elections were largely fair, the country's politics now risk going the way of Ukraine's Moldova's opposition leaders - flush from besting Europe's last governing Communist party in repeat parliamentary elections...
Handbook for a Heist: Pre-election Maneuvers in Moldova
June 23, 2009By Louis O’Neill The Republic of Moldova is a wonderland of political machination and cabal, where centuries of Ottoman, Russian, Romanian, Soviet and once again Russian domination have taught people a little something about court intrigue, corruption...
Moldova Must Stop Mixing Politics And Prosecutions
May 28, 2009By Louis O'Neill Whatever the outcome of the current maneuvering and machinations between the Communists and the opposition over the election of a new Moldovan president, when the dust settles the country's leaders will need urgently to find a way...