Staunton, November 1 – In a move that recalls the ending of Costa-Gavras’ 1969 classic film “Z” about the Greek junta, a group of Putin loyalists from his United Russia Party are calling for dispensing with the word “democracy” in Russia, closing the independent Higher School of Economics and Ekho Moskvy, and restoring choral singing […]
Staunton, November 1 – “A Ukrainian political nation has been formed,” Vitaly Portnikov says, something that has been noticed not only by those “who love and support it” but also by “those who hate it.” As a result, on the post-Soviet space, it has become “a synonym for a free individual,” and its hymn “the […]
Staunton, November 1 – The new society emerging in Russia under Vladimir Putin will be “a powerful and active one, anti-democratic, militarized, with its own ‘leader cult,’ and ‘political gnosticism’ but not comparable to the interwar regimes in Italy or Germany, according to Aleksandr Morozov, the editor in chief of Russky Zhurnal. And he argues […]
Staunton, November 2 – In 1991, Ukrainians separated themselves “not from Russia but from Moscow,” as shown by the continuing willingness of most to speak Russian, historian Georgy Mirsky says. Indeed, at that time, “no one except Bandera supporters separated themselves off from Russia or from the Russian people.” But now, the Russian historian acknowledges, […]
Staunton, October 30 – An article on Lenta.ru this week about the ethnic backgrounds of Russia’s 200 wealthiest businessmen, one that could have been expected to spark anger among Russians at minorities including Jews, has in fact called attention to something else: As in Soviet times, many who call themselves ethnic Russians in fact are […]
Staunton, October 30 – Despite the convergence of the political systems of Russia and China, the Chinese economy is growing rapidly while Russia’s is lagging behind, the result, Andrey Yakovlev says, of Moscow’ failure compared to China to maintain a balance between responsibility and control. Yakovlev, a professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, argues […]
Staunton, October 31 – In the century and a half since the first Crimean war, Russia has experienced three waves of Bolshevism, Vladimir Pastukhov says, the result of the unresolved clash between the Slavophiles and Westernizers and the special role of the Russian religious impulse as the bridge between them. But now the third wave […]
Staunton, October 31 – Like so many Moscow leaders before him, Vladimir Putin’s incautious and insensitive playing with Russian nationalism is backfiring in his multi-national country, raising questions about how well he understands its nature and leading Russian nationalists to act in ways certain to infuriate the non-Russian quarter of the population. Responding to a […]
Staunton, October 31 – The situation of Kaliningrad, the non-contiguous part of the Russian Federation, has long been “a headache” for the Kremlin, but the recent rise in East-West tensions has so exacerbated the problems of that region that this week Vladimir Putin convened a meeting to discuss what should be done. According to Nezavisimaya […]
Staunton, October 31 – President Vladimir Putin this week signed a new law, pushed by the Moscow Patriarchate, that will provide government funding at the regional level for religious organizations in the name of the preservation of those of their buildings which have been or will be designated as “objects of cultural heritage.” Because money […]
