Colleen Wood @colleenewood

In September 2014, Muftah expanded its coverage to Eastern Europe. Like the Middle East, Eastern Europe has traditionally been misrepresented by mainstream...

After an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine in April 1986, a plume of highly radioactive material shot high into the sky and...

On paper, gender equality in Kyrgyzstan appears to be well-established and protected. The 2010 constitution abolishes gender-based discrimination and...

Kyrgyzstan has officially recognized the Islamic State (IS) as a terrorist organization and banned its activity within its borders, according to an...

Vostokian Magazine, a new platform for coverage of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, was just launched in February 2015, but it has already made a splash with it...

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic’s visit to Bosnia on March 3, 2015 may have relieved some tension between the two countries, but it also...

A Russian video called “I’m a Russian Occupier” has gone viral on YouTube this week. So far, the video, which spouts nationalist and anti-democratic...

Hunger strikes have a long history as protest tactics, though the political efficacy of self-starvation is often anything but guaranteed. As days of...

On February 12, 2015, leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France emerged from 16-hour talks in Minsk, Belarus with a signed bilateral, ceasefire...

On January 11, 2015, leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France met in Minsk, Belarus for another round of negotiations to resolve the conflict in...

Peace talks meant to bring about a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and separatist forces in the east collapsed on January 31 after representatives from...

Violent demonstrations shook Pristina, Kosovo in waves this week. At its height, at least 2,000 protestors took to the streets of the country's capital after...

President Barack Obama’s sixth State of the Union irked not only U.S. Republicans, but also lawmakers in Russia. Russian politicians were not upset about the...

Muftah is planning a Special Collection of articles that will examine the relationship between the Middle East and Eastern Europe. We are seeking well-written,...

Teatr.doc, a Russian independent theatre, recently discovered that city officials had terminated its lease for a performance space in a tiny basement in...

On January 7, three masked gunmen killed 12 people at the office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper that has drawn threats and attacks in the past...

The year began with the massive Euromaidan protests that culminated with the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych in February. In March, Russia launched a...

Yesterday was Christmas, and while many around the world are recovering from celebrating, millions in Russia are preparing for New Year’s Eve. Christmas was...

Russia finds itself on the brink of a currency crisis this week, as everyday the ruble sinks to record lows. On December 16, the ruble suffered its falling...

On this year's Human Rights Day, December 10, there was little to celebrate in Azerbaijan, an energy-rich country in the South Caucasus governed by the brutal...

Three police officers and at least six gunmen were killed the morning of Thursday, December 4, in clashes in Chechnya, a Russian federal district in the north...

Some have called Vladimir Putin’s politics - which include invading neighboring territories, restoring the Soviet-era names of Russian cities, and crackdowns...

The Russian ruble has fallen to record lows as a result of Western economic sanctions, which were first imposed in March 2014. The United States and European...

While Germans celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall last week, Ukrainian construction workers labored to build a wall to...

Since Brian Dooley's piece for Muftah last week about the significance of Ukraine’s parliamentary elections, another round of voting and ballot counting has...

On September 15, Muftah launched its first collection of articles about Eastern Europe. Continue to prepare for our new regional coverage by learning more...

On September 15, Muftah launched its first collection of articles about Eastern Europe. Continue to prepare for our new regional coverage by learning more...

The Arab Culture Forum is a Bulgarian-based NGO dedicated to Arab culture, history, traditions, and modernism. Its founder, Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad), is a...

On September 15, Muftah launched its first collection of articles about Eastern Europe. Continue to prepare for our new regional coverage by learning more...

Post-Soviet Graffiti is a research blog that investigates, amplifies, and advocates for free expression in states of the post-Soviet region, which censor...

On September 15, Muftah launched its first collection of articles about Eastern Europe. Continue to prepare for our new regional coverage by learning more...

The Belarus Free Theatre is an underground theater company that was founded in Belarus in 2005 by Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin. Vladimir Shcherban...

Muftah has established itself as a source for diverse perspectives on the Middle East and North Africa, and has challenged dominant narratives about these...

On Monday, Muftah will launch its first collection of articles about Eastern Europe. To prepare for our new regional coverage, study up on Eastern European...

Concerts and music festivals are not just stages for talent and culture – they can also reveal the inseparability of music and politics. Drama surrounding...

This summer marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of historic political changes in Eastern Europe. In Poland, these political developments were nearly a decade in...

Months of fighting in eastern Ukraine have taken a heavy toll on civilians. According to Laurent Corbaz, the Red Cross’s head of operations in Europe and...

“The era of liberal democracies is over.” It might be hard to believe the leader of an EU member state would utter these words, or imply that the end of...

There is a silver lining to the worsening situation in Eastern Ukraine - for Russian LGBT activists, at least. The bigoted nationalists who usually attack gay...

On Thursday, July 17, a civilian aircraft crashed in Ukraine, just miles from the Russian border. The 298 passengers and crew aboard the plane, Malaysian...

The Russian government has launched a battle for public opinion following its involvement in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine this year. Trolling has emerged as a...

Since July 1 2014, a sweeping ban on profanity in the arts has been in effect in Russia.  Russian profanities, known as mat, spring from just four words:...

In an armed domestic conflict, control of public opinion can be just as decisive as the seizing of land or key facilities. In Eastern Ukraine, where around 400...

It is hard enough to organize an international film festival, let alone in a country on the brink of civil war. Given Ukraine’s recent political and...