If you’ve been grumbling about Russia’s elections, spare a thought for those poor unfortunate souls in the democractic wasteland that is Turkmenistan. For they have apparently re-elected Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov as their President with a spectacular 97% of the vote, based on a 96% turnout. The result is a dramatic improvement on Berdimuhamedov’s performance in the [...]
USSR successor
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990’s, the nations who formed part of that Soviet Empire gradually reclaimed their independence. As such the notion of a USSR successor state is open to interpretation but it is generally recognised by the outside world that the Russian Federation has the best claim to that accolade [...]