Staunton, April 26 – There is an old Soviet joke that the West sends diplomats to Moscow and Moscow treats them like spies while Moscow dispatches spies to Western capitals and Western governments treat them like diplomats, a joke that had more than a little basis in fact and that resonates now because of what […]
Staunton, April 25 – Sometimes satire is the only vehicle available to express one’s outrage at what is going on and one’s hope that the current situation can be changed for the better. And Vadim Shtepa, one of Russia’s most prominent regionalists, has used it to imagine how what Putin is doing now might land […]
Staunton, April 25 – Vladimir Putin’s promotion of the idea that Moscow must preserve “the Russian world” has already led to the transformation of his country into something very different than it was before, but the shakiness of its three main foundations is such that it is unlikely to survive for very long, according to […]
Staunton, April 25 – At the dawn of the 20th century, Vladimir Lenin wrote that “a newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator; it is also a collective organizer.” Now, in the 21st century, Vladimir Putin has updated this Bolshevik principle by having Moscow TV play the same role with the […]
Staunton, April 24 – The Russian language and Russian culture are today “the main unifying factor[s]” for the citizens of the Russian Federation, unlike history which continues to be a source of divisions given that different groups have different understandings of past events, according to the Valdai International Discussion Club. The Moscow Higher School of […]
Staunton, April 24 – In a comment that many non-Russians in the Russian Federation are certain to see as a threat to the existence of their groups and some Russians may view as a danger to Russian-ness as well, Vladimir Putin said yesterday that “it is not so important what is written in the ‘nationality’ […]
Staunton, April 24 – It is notoriously easier to spark a protest movement than to control its direction thereafter or to ensure that it does not become a model for others one does not want to be involved in. That risk is now on display in eastern Ukraine where pro-Moscow activists are not only seeking […]
Staunton, April 24 – Vladimir Putin has developed “a new kind of war” in Ukraine, one that has achieved many of his goals including the partial dismemberment of that country and the creation of a new region on the basis of his perception of “new international conditions,” according to Yuliya Latynina. In an article in […]
Staunton, April 23 – Russians want to live well in a strong state, according to discussions at the Valdai Club last fall. But an economist says Moscow’s failure to modernize the economy could soon force a choice between guns and butter – or even put Russia at risk having less of both. That Russians should want […]
Staunton, April 23 – Several Russian nationalist portals have segments with the title “the new is the well-forgotten old.” That is certainly proving to be true with some of the ideological tropes that Russian commentators are trying out now. Much of what they say appears to be little more than an updated version of an […]
