Staunton, February 2 – Russians are ironically calling the Network, as the Kremlin’s new youth movement is officially known, “Putin’s Witnesses” because its members are so ideologically committed and go from house to house to spread their ideas about the need for complete loyalty to Vladimir Putin and his regime. The group in the process […]
Window on Eurasia
Russians Dissatisfied with Many Things But Not Inclined to Demand Change
Staunton, February 3 – Drawing on the findings of a Levada Center poll, the editors of Nezavisimaya Gazeta say that Russians are “dissatisfied with how they are treated medically and taught, they would like to live better and earn more, but these attitudes are not reflected in their voting in general elections.” Instead, the paper […]
When Siberia Wasn’t Russian – And Other Troubling Facts DNA Studies Will Document
Staunton, February 3 – For most people in the Russian Federation, the history of this or that region begins when it came under Russian control, but plans to gather DNA data from all the peoples of the Russian Federation will change that both for Russians and perhaps even more importantly for non-Russian nations within the […]
‘Why Doesn’t Moscow Set Up an Institute for Enslaving Other Countries?’
Staunton, February 2 – Why don’t Russia and the other former Soviet republics have an institute to produce specialists who know how to “enslave other countries,” having organized pro-Moscow revolutions in them, seized power via coups, and exported “pro-Russian ideology” to them? That outrageous question is posed today by Erlan Esenaliyev and Ermek Taichibekov, two […]
Bureaucracy, Not Open Politics, Dominates Russian Political Landscape, Sukhov Says
Staunton, February 2 – Russian revolutionary Lev Bronstein famously took his nom de guerre “Trotsky” from that of his first jailor because he observed in Russia there will always be jailors and bureaucrats. And indeed, Ivan Sukhov argues today, the Russian bureaucracy is still capturing those who try to lead it and overwhelming those who […]
Putin’s ‘Conservative Revolutionaries’ Dreaming of National Socialist Utopia
Staunton, January 30 – The old left-right continuum in Russian politics with its differences between conservatives and reformers ceased to be relevant as the basis for analysis and understanding with Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea and the formation of a populist left-right alliance of support, according to Aleksandr Morozov. In a commentary in New Times, he […]
Putin’s Recipe for a Russian Disaster – Cutting Vodka Prices and Public Transport at Same Time
Staunton, February 1 – Vladimir Putin has clearly learned the lesson some of his predecessors did not: when times are tough, boosting alcohol prices is a good way to trigger a social explosion. But his decision to cut the price of the cheapest vodka — which went into effect February 1 — is a recipe […]
Western Leaders Must Make Putin Lose Face Not Help Him Save It, Skobov Says
Staunton, January 28 – Vladimir Putin is very much afraid of losing face, and some in the West are trying to figure out how to resolve the situation in Ukraine without his doing so. But what they should be focusing on, Aleksandr Skobov says, is precisely how to “help him lose face and break his […]
Ukraine Increasingly Not Just About Ukraine and Thus Western Aid Ever More Critical, Kirillova Says
Staunton, January 28 – With each passing day, it is becoming more critical that the US and the EU increase their assistance to Ukraine not only because Russian aggression there is becoming more violent and vicious but also because what happens in Ukraine is rapidly becoming a model for the future of the post-Soviet space, […]
Americanization Of Russian Language And Culture Threatens National Security, Military Writer Says
Staunton, January 27 – For more than 150 years, the Anglo-Saxon world has been the main competitor and threat to the Russian way of life, and today, the United States is carrying out ‘a ‘quiet’ and bloodless’ war against Russia by promoting the Americanization of its language and culture, according to a Moscow military writer. […]