Featured
The Problem with Johnson's Russia List
This is not an antisemitic dogwhistle, it’s an antisemitic cowbell.
Monumental Politics: The Power of Public Memory in Putin’s Russia
The contemporary revival and politicization of Russia’s history begins with references to the glories of Kievan Rus, and progresses onwards through Soviet history. After the fall of the Soviet Union,...
The media game: Putting on the Cold War goggles
As the tension between Russia and the West turns into a deeper rift in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, many have been tempted to declare the beginning of a...
Are Sanctions on Russia Effective? How (Not) to Inform the Debate, Part I
The Russian economy has bounced back from the initial hit of sanctions, thanks in large part to skillful financial policy and planning by the Russian central bank and finance ministry, as well as loopholes in the sanctions regime.
Are Sanctions on Russia Effective? How (Not) to Inform the Debate, Part II
The unprecedented nature of the current sanctions, both in terms of their scale and in terms of the economic size of the target state, makes it more challenging to extrapolate from prior experience.
Getting One Thing Straight: “Postmodernists” Are Not the Problem
Discussions of Trump and Putin as “Postmodern politicians” come in many different forms and degrees of sophistication. My own modest contribution is intended only to dispel a bit of confusion...
Open Letter on the Termination of Russian Studies Faculty at Ohio University
Like you, we are wholeheartedly invested in the survival and recovery of higher education in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That recovery depends on the will of universities...
Will Russia’s economic turmoil affect its foreign policy?
How is the current financial crisis in Russia likely to affect Putin’s foreign policy choices in the short to mid-term future?
Late to the Party (Russia's Alien Nations)
“Party Like a Russian” is mess.
A Kaleidoscope of Vulnerabilities: Real and Perceived Threats to the Russian State
Russia watchers today generally discuss two critical vulnerabilities: the paradox of the "shrinking space" and putatively catastrophic demographic decline.
Televising Soviet Ballet in the Twenty-First Century
On a day when the news was silent about why the stock market had failed to open, and as protests were unfolding in major cities across Russia, watching ballet on...
Russia’s Grasp on Okhotsk Will Intensify South China Sea Tensions
The closing of the Sea of Okhotsk will also greatly exacerbate maritime tensions in the greater Pacific.
Why We Must Return to the US-Russian Parity Principle
We are in a new Cold War with Russia today, and specifically over the Ukrainian confrontation, largely because Washington nullified the parity principle. Indeed, we know when, why, and how...
A Walk With(out) Svetlana
I write this homage to Svetlana Boym from afar. The news of Svetlana’s passing found me, as many of her friends, too abruptly and too far to pay our homage...
Coalition or Cold War with Russia?
This spreading threat cannot be contained, diminished, or, still less, eradicated without Russia.
Party Like a Russian
Are we really here again?
Film Review: Sarik Andreasian's "Guardians" (2016)
With "Guardians," cinemas saw a Russian superhero team at last. Most of them wished they could unsee it.
UFOs after the USSR (Russia's Alien Nations)
It doesn’t hurt that the alien visitor happens to look like he would be equally at home in either his spaceship or on the cover of Tiger Beat.
Virtual Historical Mapping: Physical Spaces and Interactions Featured in “Harlem and Moscow”
I figured that I was going to school in Harlem, but learning Russian for my degree, so why not mesh the two topics together? Ultimately, the class was a rewarding...
The Khachaturyan Sisters and Russia’s History of Fighting Terror at Home
The case of the Khachaturyan sisters reads like one of Liudmila Petrushevskaya’s darkest tales. On August 2, 2018, Maria (age 17), Angelina (18), and Krestina (19) were arrested on charges...