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"We Are from the FSB"
Gershkovich’s arrest is just one more piece of evidence that Russia’s security services are out of control, violating norms of civilized behavior, and so desperate in their efforts to prove...
Vladimir Putin: War Criminal
In charging the Russian leader, the ICC becomes the latest international institution to go public with well-documented evidence of his culpability for the war against Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin: Pauper or Princeling?
If Vladimir Putin did indeed come from a family with ties to the Soviet nomenklatura, that would illuminate the role of personal connections in an allegedly egalitarian and meritocratic society....
Gorbachev and Putin
In the outpouring of commentary following the death of Mikhail Gorbachev at age 91 there seems to be a broad consensus about his varying historical legacy, East and West: he...
Do Russians Care About the War in Ukraine?
Polling in an authoritarian regime is a tricky business, all the more so when the country is at war. People are understandably wary of expressing an opinion to a random...
The Ukraine War and the Putin Succession
Putin is 69 years old. There has been much speculation about the state of his health. All we know for sure is that he will die at some point: that...
Five Wrong Ideas About Russia’s War on Ukraine
While Ukraine is winning the hearts and minds of Europe and North America, it is losing the propaganda war in the rest of the world. The role of the United...
Putin's Claims Distort the Meaning of World War II; His War may Repeat its Destructiveness
The problem is that Putin’s replaying of history is obscenely divorced from reality. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, and lost family members in the Holocaust. There are no Nazis...
Workers Against the Workers’ State, Part II
"Dear Comrades!" won a special jury prize at the Venice film festival in September 2020. A one-hour promotional video follows Konchalovsky and Vysotskaya as they cavort through luxury locations in...
Workers Against the Workers’ State, Part I
The artistic qualities of "Dear Comrades!", along with its superficial willingness to confront a tragic chapter of Russian history, have attracted glowing reviews from some Western critics and may win...
Dueling for the Soul of Russia
It looks unlikely that Navalny will succeed in his quest to topple Putin in the near future. He will probably remain a prisoner, a modern-day equivalent of Alexandre Dumas’ “Man...
Putin's Game of Thrones
The poisoning of Aleksei Navalny is a grim reminder that Russian politics seems to operate by its own set of rules.
Belarus on a Knife-Edge
Time will tell whether the Minsk protests have reached that magical tipping point.
History Matters
Amid the pandemic, Russia, China, and others find time to debate the timing of the beginning and end of World War II and other details of years long past.
Putin, Forever: The Russian President Remains as Inscrutable as Ever
Is Vladimir Putin a master manipulator? Or is he a genius of improvisation? Does he have a master strategy which governs his every move, carefully thought out in advance –...
Russian Government Reshuffle: Plus ça Change
Vladimir Putin’s surprise announcement during his annual presidential address on 15 January that the constitution will be rewritten, and the subsequent resignation of his government, caught everyone by surprise. Like...
Putin’s Y2024 Problem
There is no doubt that Putin has a succession plan – but he has not yet revealed what it is. During his June 2018 call-in program, Putin said in response...