Window on Eurasia

New Media in Russian Regions Often as Tightly Controlled as are Traditional Kind, Moscow Scholar Says

June 8, 2015

Staunton, June 2 – Internet publications, blogs and social media in general, the new media many have expected to transform Russia’s media and public space, are in fact “developing in [Russia’s] regions according to exactly the same scenarios as the market of traditional media,” according to Olga Dovbysh of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. And […]

Russia has Betrayed Not Just Ukraine but the Entire Civilized World, Portnikov Says

Staunton, June 8 – This week’s meeting of the G-7 has been forced to focus not on the challenges posed by the Islamic State, Iran’s nuclear program, or Ebola but on the actions of a former member of the group, Russia, because Moscow by its aggression in Ukraine has betrayed the entire civilized world, according […]

‘Russians are No More Europeans Than are the Tatars,’ Khakimov Says

Staunton, June 8 – European scholars now recognize that no one can understand the present without a thorough understanding of the Middle Ages, and they are beginning to include in that understanding the Golden Horde, as a recent conference in Leyden shows, according to Rafael Khakimov, the vice president of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. […]

The Kremlin’s Top Five Propaganda Myths, Fakes and Stupidities about Ukraine This Week

Staunton, June 8 – This week’s list of the Kremlin’s Top Five Propaganda Myths, Fakes and Stupidities about Ukraine prepared by Dmitry Bukovsky of Kyiv’s Delovaya Stolitsa feature several which highlight Moscow’s tendency to accuse others of what it is doing itself. 1. Moscow Says US has Prepared Textbook on How to Make Ukrainians into […]

Lienz at 70 – a Tragedy Neither Moscow Nor the West Wants to Acknowledge

Staunton, June 7 – In these days 70 years ago, British forces forcibly returned to Soviet control more than 30,000 Cossacks and other Russians at the Austrian city of Lienz. Many but far from all fought on the German side during the war. At Yalta, Stalin demanded their return, and the Western allies agreed fearful […]

West, Fearful of Having to Defend the Baltics by Force, Resolves to Stop Putin in Ukraine, Piontkovsky Says

June 7, 2015

Staunton, June 7 – Fearful that a Russian victory in Ukraine would tempt Vladimir Putin to move against the Baltic countries whose defense would require the kind of military actions that NATO does not want to have to take, the Western powers have decided that they must stop Putin in Ukraine by non-military means, according […]

For Moscow, Russia’s ‘Most Dangerous Opponent’ in Europe is Poland and ‘Most Harmful’ is Estonia, Illarionov Says

Staunton, June 3 Moscow’s “black list” of European political figures who now will be denied entrance to the Russian Federation suggests that in the view of the Kremlin, Poland is Russia’s “most dangerous opponent” in Europe and that Estonia is “the most harmful,” according to Andrey Illarionov. The Russian analyst has analyzed the list of […]

For Russians, the 20th Century with Its Historical Shortcomings Hasn’t Ended, Kobrin Says

Staunton, June 3 – Centuries do not always correspond to the period between years ending in 00. Most historians argue that the nineteenth century, for example, lasted from 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon until 1914 when World War I broke out. And now a Moscow historian is arguing that “in Russia, the 20th century […]

Across Russia, Political Battles between Governors and Mayors Intensify

Staunton, June 3 – On June 3, the unpopular appointed governor of Karelia orchestrated a vote by the Petrozavodsk city council against that city’s popular elected mayor, the latest development in what is an ever-intensifying struggle between governors and mayors in Russia’s regions and republics over just how “power verticals” at the regional level are […]

Despite Contradictory Messages, Putin Remains Committed to War, Kirillova Says

June 6, 2015

Staunton, June 4 – Never before have the messages coming out of Moscow about the future of relations between Russia and the West been so contradictory, with some of them suggesting that Vladimir Putin is ready for a new deal with the West and others pointing in exactly the opposite direction and pointing to a […]