ON MY MIND The official reaction to Russia’s track-and-field athletes effectively being banned from this year’s Summer Olympics is both predictable and telling. Despite the overwhelming evidence of systematic state-sponsored doping and despite reports that armed Russian security agents prevented international doping officials from testing athletes, the whole thing is being presented as part of […]
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page. A transcript of today’s Daily Vertical can be found here.
ON MY MIND The foundations of Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime were established by what appeared at the time to be a triumph of democracy. This week marks the 20th anniversary of Russia’s first post-Soviet presidential election, the first round of which took place on June 16, 1996. When Boris Yeltsin ultimately defeated Communist leader Gennady […]
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page. A transcript of today’s Daily Vertical can be found here.
ON MY MIND OK, I’ve still got this soft power thing on the brain. So at the risk of being repetitive, I’m going to offer some more thoughts on Russia’s surprise appearance in this year’s Soft Power 30 rankings by the London-based consultancy Portland Communications. As I noted yesterday, the report cited Russia’s global media […]
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page. A transcript of today’s Daily Vertical can be found here.
Russian soft power? Really? Soft power means a country’s capability to project influence abroad without resorting to military force or economic pressure.
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page. A transcript of today’s Daily Vertical can be found here.
ON MY MIND For all of Russia’s bluster about the United States and NATO, Moscow’s real problem is actually with Europe and the European Union. It is the EU that presents a model of governance close to Russia’s borders that directly challenges the kleptocracy in the Kremlin. It is the EU that creates a magnetic […]
ON MY MIND Russian trolls can be destructive in many ways. They undermine reasonable discourse. They pollute social media with lies, propaganda, and hate speech. They harass talented and honest journalists like Finland’s Jessikka Aro — who endured a campaign of character assassination for her reporting. And, if my suspicions are correct, an orchestrated campaign […]
