This week, Boston College Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and Interpreter Magazine’s managing editor James Miller discuss the impact of Russia’s annexation of Crimea on geopolitics. Will we see a new Cold War? A Russia-China alliance? Russia isolated on the world stage? Perhaps this crisis will mean that the world’s superpowers, locked in an unending struggle, lose […]
Tag: Russia
Russian Elites and People Never Accepted Demise of USSR, Shelin Says
Staunton, April 2 – Neither Russian elites nor the Russian people accepted the demise of the USSR and occasionally signaled that throughout the Yeltsin period, according to commentator Sergey Shelin. But in every case, the West preferred not to take notice of that reality and only now with Vladimir Putin’s actions is being forced to […]
Moscow Now Has a Ukrainian Problem in the Russian Far East, Former Japanese Defense Minister Says
Staunton, April 2 – Vladimir Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea is echoing through the non-Russian nations within the Russian Federation, but it is also creating a new Ukrainian problem for the Kremlin leader in the Russian Far East where a former Japanese defense minister has noted that 60 percent of the inhabitants on the disputed Etorofu […]
Day 41: Russian-Trained Snipers Killed Maidan Protesters
Exclusive photos and videos obtained by the Daily Beast expose the Russian-trained state killers behind the sniper deaths on Maidan. Vitali Klitschko has announced he will not run for President as Ukraine continues to plan for increased Russian military intervention. Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story […]
Feeling Like a Great Power is One Thing; Remaining One is Quite Another, Russian Commentators Say
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 […]
Has Putin Decided on a New Period of ‘Phony War’?
Staunton, March 29 – Many have drawn parallels between what Vladimir Putin is doing and how the West is reacting with the Cold War or with the appeasement policies of Munich. But now that Putin has carried out the Crimean Anschluss, a far better analogy for today may be to “the phony war” between the […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 40: Vitali Klitschko Backs Out of Presidential Race
Vitali Klitschko has announced he will not run for President as Ukraine continues to plan for increased Russian military intervention. Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards […]
UNGA Vote on Crimean ‘Referendum’ Shows New Divisions in the World
Staunton, March 28 – The United Nations General Assembly yesterday approved a resolution declaring the Moscow-organized “referendum” in Crimea illegal. The UN vote, of course, has no legal force, although it does highlight the emergence of new divisions in the international community, divisions that will certainly outlast the current crisis. One hundred countries, including the […]
Russia This Week: Distorting the News (March 24-28)
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 on German-Russian Relations
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 […]