Guest: Sergey Markedonov on the Caucasus, Syria, and US-Russian relations. Dr. Markedonov holds a PhD in history from the Rostov-on-Don State University and he is an Associate Professor at the Russian State University in Moscow. He is also a frequent contributor to the online news service Russia Direct.

Guest: Halyna Mokrushyna on democracy in Ukraine today. Dr. Mokrushyna holds a PhD in linguistics and an MA in communication. She is also currently enrolled in the PhD program in sociology at the University of Ottawa and is a part-time professor. Her doctoral research deals with the memory of Stalinism and the Stalinist purges in Ukraine.

Guest: Yuri Zhukov of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor about the recent conflict in Ukraine's Donbas. Dr. Zhukov is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and a Faculty Associate with the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research.

Guest: Sergey Sargsyan of the ArmComedy Project (the Armenian version of "The Daily Show").