Staunton, May 8 – Fascism is one of the most negative terms in any language and it is often employed as the ultimate expression of one’s hatred or disapproval of something, but fascism has some real characteristics. Consequently, it is possible to list them and the evaluate whether this or that leader or this or […]
Staunton, May 4 – Had Vladimir Putin accepted the Maidan’s ouster of discredited Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and agreed to accept the results of the upcoming elections, nothing that has occurred in Ukraine since that time would have happened, according to a Ukrainian commentator. “Thousands of people would not have suddenly discovered in themselves an […]
Staunton, May 2 – Moscow is threatening its own country even more than it is threatening Ukraine by presenting those now in revolt against Kyiv as heroes, a portrayal that could lead to an upswing in extremist views and actions in the Russian Federation itself, according to Vladislav Inozemtsev. In an article in Vedomosti just […]
Staunton, April 21 – There is perhaps no better way to call attention to the way in which Vladimir Putin insists on one standard for his own country and a very different one for Ukraine and others than to imagine the position the Kremlin leader might have found himself in had he been asked what […]
Staunton, April 5 – Given the nature of Vladimir Putin’s regime and reflecting the Kremlin leader’s own understanding, “Russians do not exist,” émigré writer Boris Shumyatsky says. Instead, “people from the former Soviet Union are united [by] their experience of life under a dictatorship.” In a comment to Die Zeit this week, the writer argues […]
Staunton, March 28 – Russian society is experiencing euphoria over what Vladimir Putin proclaims and many of them feel that with the seizure of Crimea, Russia has regained “the status of a great power.” But Moscow commentators warn it is far easier to claim or even believe Russia is again a great power than it […]
Russians continue to protest the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine following a mass march against Putin’s forcible annexation of Crimea last week. (Go here and here for the last weeks’ news.) Defendants in the Bolotnaya Case charged with “instigating riots” remain on trial. The Russian government continues to make moves to suppress dissent, chiefly by blocking […]
Ulrich Speck is a Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Europe and an expert on German-Russian relations, arguably the fulcrum on which the European Union’s response to Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea will pivot. The Interpreter‘s Editor-in-Chief Michael Weiss invited Speck to explain Berlin’s changing posture toward Moscow, and what effect this may also have on […]
Today we’re launching a new column, “Watching Russia,” focusing on Russian television propaganda and distortion, especially as pushed through the English-language news outlets like RT (formerly Russia Today) and Voice of Russia. Manuel Ochsenreiter is not a household name either in the United States or in his native Germany. He’s the editor of “Zuerst! German News Magazine” […]
After reading the news about Francois Hollande, President Vladimir urgently convened his cabinet: “Yes, we can do the meeting without Dmitry at all. Let him finished his game of Angry Birds” – growled the President before hanging up. Five minutes later everyone was already in the room with their documents and pencil cases, someone even came […]
