Robin Shepherd
Robin Shepherd joined GMF as a Senior Transatlantic Fellow in May 2006. Based in Bratislava, Mr. Shepherd focuses on global integration issues in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the relationship between economic development and democratization. Formerly a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and since 2003 an adjunct fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mr. Shepherd entered the public policy community with a background in international journalism. Previously, he was the Moscow Bureau Chief for the Times of London and has also held positions with Reuters in central and eastern Europe and London. News Articles
Romania, Bulgaria, and the EU’s FutureMarch 06, 2007Romania and Bulgaria enter a European Union that has stalled at a crossroads. It remains an open question how having them on board will influence the direction now taken.
The lost leader of BelarusFebruary 09, 2007If the gods first make mad those whom they wish to destroy, then Alexander Lukashenko, the brutal autocrat in charge of Belarus, may be heading for problems. Since losing his last remaining ally in Europe in an acrimonious oil and gas dispute with Russia at the beginning of January, his behavior has become so erratic that many in the domestic opposition have begun to speculate he is losing control of his faculties. Strong response to Putin’s Russia overdueJanuary 09, 2007As Russia and Belarus sought to blame each other on Monday over the suspension of oil supplies through the northern leg of the Druzhba oil pipeline to Poland and Germany, Europe might well have paused to take stock of its own share of responsibility for the latest threat to its energy security.
Don’t rush to join the euroDecember 19, 2006A report this month from the European Commission chiding the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for failing to make adequate preparations for joining the euro could all too easily be seen as the culmination of a disappointing year for the European Union's newest member states.Putin’s Russia fails its own testOctober 20, 2006For entirely understandable reasons, recent events in Russia have prompted a tidal wave of criticism against President Vladimir Putin's style of government.Romania, Bulgaria head for EUSeptember 26, 2006Whatever else motivated the European Union to invite Bulgaria and Romania to join the 25 nation bloc next January, it was not the wealth they will add to Europe's economy. After accession, the two Black Sea countries will add 6 percent to the EU's population, currently about 450 million, but just one percent to gross domestic product.
A question of honorSeptember 20, 2006Rarely has a modern European leader been more brazen in his contempt for basic standards of political decency. Hungary's socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, admitted that he had secured re-election earlier this year after lying to voters about the true state of the economy.Analysis: Eastern Europe ready for euro?August 03, 2006An old Chinese proverb has it that we should be careful what we wish for. As the European Union's new accession countries from the former communist world scramble to drop their national currencies for the euro without even the semblance of a debate about the potential risks, it is a warning they might want to bear in mind.Slovakia sets extremist challenge for EuropeJuly 07, 2006The European Union was presented with another serious challenge to its ability to contain hardline nationalism this week with the inclusion in the government of new member state Slovakia of a key party with rabidly xenophobic views and a nostalgic attitude to that country's pro-Nazi wartime government.Abbas’s Palestinian referendum offers only false hopeJune 19, 2006Good news from the Palestinian territories is a rarecommodity, so rare that there is an understandable tendency to overstate its significance when it comes.The Dzurinda RevolutionJune 12, 2006Imagine you're the leader of a country where economic growth is running at 6.3%, your government has been praised by the World Bank as the best market reformer in the world, unemployment has fallen to a record low of 10.6% from around 20% in just four years and your flat 19% corporate, value added and income tax rate led Steve Forbes to call your country an "investors' paradise."Publications
Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe (Arabic Language)November 14, 2011
The recent surge of democratic movements in the Arab World, including the January 25th protests that topled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, opens new windows on the world of civil society and its role in asserting democracy. While these movements raise new questions for scholars of democratic movements and activists alike, they also share an inspiration in the democratic breakthroughs in Central and Eastern Europe that preceded them. Inspired by those who shaped the Arab Spring, the German Marshall Fund has published an Arabic translation of Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe, by Pavol Demes, Joerg Forbrig and Robin Shepherd....
Bucharest Conference PapersApril 01, 2008Edited by Robin Shepherd of Chatham House and released in advance of the Bucharest Conference and ahead of the official NATO Summit, the Bucharest Conference Papers are written by independent authors on the topics of NATO's mission in Afghanistan; NATO enlargement; global cyber defense and NATO; and NATO's relationship with Russia.
Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern EuropeFebruary 14, 2007Variously labeled "color revolutions," "transitions from postcommunism," or "electoral breakthroughs," and for some representing even a new "wave of democracy," the recent changes in the post-Soviet nations have fascinated scholarly observers and democratic activists alike. This book provides a cross-section of perspectives on recent democratic breakthroughs in Central and Eastern Europe. Case studies drafted by civic leaders present inside accounts of how civil society helped to assert democracy, while comparative analyses by academic experts shed light on a range of further factors that facilitated these changes, including the semi-authoritarian nature of postcommunism, economic aspects, civil society strategies and resources, and youth participation.
Ukraine After the Orange RevolutionMay 02, 2005Ukraine's recent Orange Revolution opens an enormous opportunity to reinvigorate the democratic reform process in that country and to bring it closer to European and transatlantic structures. A new book just released by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, jointly with the Heinrich Boell Foundation of Germany, brings together renowned experts from Ukraine, Europe, and the United States to look more closely and systematically into the steps needed to take advantage of this opportunity both domestically and internationally.
