Staunton, October 10 – Despite Vladimir Putin’s repeated insistence that the former Soviet republics are the focus of Russian foreign policy, when things get tough for the Russian Federation Russians as is now the case, ever more Russians look to China as an ally than they do to any of the CIS countries, including Belarus. […]
Staunton, September 24 – The eight developments Russians identified as of their greatest fears are all coming true, and that pattern regardless of what else happens undermines the stability of Russian society and the Russian state, according to Moscow economist and commentator Yevgeny Gontmakher. In August, Russians were asked by Levada Center pollsters to identify […]
This week on The Interpreter podcast Boston College Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and The Interpreter’s managing editor James Miller discuss Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s recent visit to the United States, and how Ukraine will (or perhaps will not) be supported by the United States and Europe. But the conversation quickly turns to ISIS and the US […]
Staunton, September 18 – Like Argentinians in the 1950s and 1960s, Russians are focusing on politics to the extent that they do not see the economic catastrophe for the future that Moscow’s current policies guarantee – decades of stagnation and missed opportunities for a better life, according to Konstantin Sonin. The Higher School of Economics […]
Staunton, September 17 – Russia can annex South Ossetia without worrying about the reaction of the West, Yana Amelina says, but it must do so in the near future or both Russia and South Ossetia will face “quite dangerous geopolitical explosions” in the Caucasus given the reordering of power relations in that region. Amelina, a […]
Staunton, September 17 – Many of the leaders of the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria come from Muslim regions of the Russian Federation, and they plan to launch attacks in its regions, coming in via Afghanistan and Central Asia rather than the more direct but more difficult route across Turkey and Iran, according […]
Staunton, September 16 – The US campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria gives Russia new opportunities to advance its interests in the Middle East, according to Roman Silantyev, an influential Russian specialist on Islam who has gained notoriety but also much support for his criticism of Muslims both inside the Russian Federation […]
Staunton, September 15 – In a change of tactics reflecting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement on Saturday that Russia wants to have a “neutral” Ukraine rather than to create another Transdniestria lest that further alienate the rest of Ukraine, Moscow will back the participation of the Donbas in the October 26 Ukrainian elections. Under […]
Staunton, September 15 – The FSB has brought charges against four Russians in Krasnodar Krai for promoting separatism there, the first such application in the country of the law adopted in May of this year imposing criminal penalties for calling into question the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. But a survey of specialists on […]
Staunton, September 11 – Despite a hard-won and well-deserved reputation for being able to outsmart Western leaders in pursuit of his goals, Vladimir Putin, as a result of his own recent actions, has left himself with only bad options for his next move in Ukraine, according to Vitaly Portnikov. In a commentary on Liga.net, the […]
