In an Al Jazeera America op-ed titled “Two decades later, ex-Soviet republics reject absolute independence,” history associate professor Kate Brown writes that a combination of self-governance and economic integration is essential for former Soviet states in a global economy.

In the column, Brown cites the example of ongoing protests in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, against the Ukrainian president’s refusal to sign European Union agreements that would facilitate trade.

“The anxiety over economic well-being is not limited to Ukraine. Citizens in almost all the ex–Soviet republics are registering displeasure with their states’ autonomy at a rate that just about matches the indebtedness of those countries,” she writes.

Brown also writes that citizens in ex-Soviet republics are becoming more international and populist than nationalist in their political beliefs and that “crowds on the street want to be a part of broader international associations, which would give them the right to travel, trade and express themselves freely.”

Referencing past experience of ex-Soviet republics, Brown writes that “international associations combined with local self-governance may just be the new formula for sovereignty in a global economy.”

You can read the full op-ed in Al Jazeera America here.

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS’s (Content Management Systems) available and is widely used by many users. Unfortunately, a large variety of those users don’t realize that a slow site can cost them, not only in performance but loss of viewers. Here are ten things you can do to speed up your WordPress site.

A court loss for “net neutrality” could mean either a new era of innovation or preferential treatment and higher costs.

A decision issued today by a U.S. federal appeals court struck down parts of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet, or “net neutrality,” rules issued in 2010. Accepting much of a challenge by Verizon, the court killed the FCC’s policies that aimed to prevent data discrimination or data blocking. But the ruling does require carriers to disclose when they block, slow, or expedite various kinds of traffic in the future.