The Kosovo—and Montenegro—effect

The post‐communist space continues to generate new internationally recognized states while incubating unrecognized but de facto states. Recent movement in the Balkans—the independence of Montenegro and the arduous deliberations over Kosovo's future —have variously encouraged other secessionist people and would‐be states, particularly in the former Soviet Union. This article analyses the impact of developments in Montenegro and Kosovo on several levels, including: their usage by de facto states; the reactions to them by central governments; Russian policy; and western and intergovernmental responses to these challenges. The article further argues that the Russian position on Kosovo and on the so‐called ‘frozen’ or unsettled conflicts neighbouring Russia could ultimately backfire on it. Western policy towards both Kosovo and on the post‐Soviet frozen conflicts will be best served by signalling to Russia, irrespective of the exact form of Kosovo's independence, that neither its own interests nor broader western‐Russian relations are served by using or reacting to any Kosovo ‘precedent’.     

Battle over the box: international election observation missions, political competition and retrenchment in the post-Soviet space

The organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's international election observation missions (OSCE IEOMs) have fuelled a new political competition in the post-Soviet space. Even if previously largely ignored, OSCE evaluations have highlighted diff erences in political values between the West and several post-Soviet republics. Recently, however, they have gained political, and even strategic, importance in the region by contributing to political change in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. IEOMs have also provoked resistance from several post-Soviet governments. This has taken several forms, including contesting the apparent western terms of democratization and the creation of alternative rules and practices for democratization and election observation. These challenges risk corrupting the whole practice of IEOMs, and the OSCE has sought to respond. IEOMs have also contributed to changes in Russian foreign policy, including its policy towards the OSCE. In addition, attitudes towards IEOMs within some post-Soviet governments are adding to evidence of a deepening divide between non-democratizing polities and the West.     

ON THE ROAD TO PARADIS: NEW INSIGHTS FROM AMS DATES AND STABLE ISOTOPES AT LE DÉHUS,GUERNSEY, AND THE CHANNEL ISLANDS MIDDLE NEOLITHIC

We here report the results of a programme of AMS dating and stable isotope analysis on human remains from the chambered tomb of Le Déhus, Guernsey. An early use‐phase in the range 4100–3900 BC is indicated, confirming the monument's attribution to the Middle Neolithic II as defined in western France. Late Neolithic burial activity is also identified. Stable carbon isotope measurements provide little or no evidence for the consumption of marine foods, although stable nitrogen isotope values are unusually high. These results are situated in the wider context of Neolithic mortuary monuments of the Channel Islands and Normandy.