When a small activist group gathered decades ago to stop the testing of a nuclear bomb, it built the foundations of what would become an international environmental organization which has contributed to change our behavior and vision of the world.

Barring an unlikely reprieve, it now looks certain former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko can expect a lengthy prison sentence. Yet prison bars will not silence her or those campaigning for freedom and democracy in Ukraine; a realization that is now dawning on authoritarian President Viktor Yanukovych.

There was always something about the Twin Towers that made me feel they were my buildings. They were a seminal part of my new American life, they grew as my American sense of self grew.

Last month, I watched as bulldozers began to demolish parts of the remnants of what was once one of Europe’s most beautiful synagogue complexes, the 16th-century Golden Rose in Lviv. Most of the rest of the synagogue was burned down, with Jews inside, by the Nazis in 1941.

The recent publications of letters and columns by high-profile prisoners Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yulia Tymoshenko have resurrected interest in the importance of prison correspondence. Methods of communication have become more sophisticated since the Soviet era, when political prisoners' writings were closely scrutinized and rarely published. But even with the growing reach of Facebook and Twitter, the impact of the printed word in traditional media is still proving surprisingly powerful.

Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, its successor states encompass squeaky clean Scandinavian-style democracies like Estonia, autocratic despotisms like Uzbekistan -- and everything in between. Is it even possible to speak of a coherent "post-Soviet space" anymore?

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych may have hoped he'd seen the last of his arch-rival Yulia Tymoshenko when a judge in Kyiv put her in jail for contempt of court. But five days into her sentence, the charismatic heroine of the Orange Revolution is not only unbowed but positively luminous, appearing in court in a sleek white dress, full makeup, and her traditional braid crown immaculately in place. Her defenders complain prison conditions -- including a lack of hot water and cigarette-smoking cell mates -- will damage the ex-premier's health and morale. But to the outside eye, Tymoshenko has never looked better. What's her secret?

Protests continue as Ukraine's ex-prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, returns to face trial for abuse of office after being jailed on contempt charges. The case has raised hackles in Moscow, where officials have voiced support for Tymoshenko, who is accused of forging a damaging gas deal with Russia.

The door to the European Union remains open for the countries in Eastern Europe and political change in Belarus will happen sooner rather than later. That's the view of European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, who sat down with RFE/RL to talk about the future of the EU's Eastern Neighborhood.