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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 17030 |
| Visitors Out: 3399 |
| Total Visitors Out: 6043 |
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| Two Reviews of Four Books |
| 2008-02-24 17:16:02 |
The 3 March issue of the Nation has two reviews of four recent books on Soviet history. The first review, “The Ice Forge,” written by Jochen Hellbeck, examines Lynne Viola’s Unknown Gulag and Orlando Figes’ The Whisperers. Viola’s book chronicles the deportation of Soviet “kulaks” during collectivization. About it Hellbeck writes, “The [...]...
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| “The President is the symbol of power, and the Prime Minister is only a manager.†|
| 2008-02-23 18:07:25 |
Kommersant has an interview with Elena Shestopal, the deputy chair of the Political Psychology Department at MGU, on how Russian society views the inevitable election of Dmitri Medvedev. I think the title of the interview, “Thus far Medvedev’s character remains unclear in the consciousness of the masses” says it all. Here is an [...]...
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| “A war is going on now and we all must participate in it†|
| 2008-02-21 20:03:16 |
Those Nashi kids really, really want to go to Estonia. So bad that they’re protests are beginning to sound more and more deranged. Leave it Nashi to push a campaign to the brink of absurdity. Is Estonia bashing all they have left? I guess they “10=5″ campaign just doesn’t provide that populist umph. If this [...]...
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| Kagarlitsky: “Such is the logic of capitalism.†|
| 2008-02-19 18:39:22 |
Boris Kagarlistky’s new article “Labor Movement and Civil Society” is a must read. I especially liked these two excerpts:
The significant outcome of the events at the “Ford†plant lies in the fact that the labor movement has attracted public attention. They started to talk and write about it, they started to look at it [...]...
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| Dima Bangs his Head |
| 2008-02-18 13:07:33 |
Smoke on the fuckin’ water. If you think soon to be Russian prez Dmitiri Medvedev is a square, think again. Forget the Russian pretension for opera and ballet. Dima is a metalist, a head bangin’, shout at the devil, Rock afficionado.
One of Medvedev’s dreams came true. Last week, Deep Purple, one [...]...
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| Kasparov Sues Nashi for his Honor |
| 2008-02-17 13:53:13 |
If you can’t beat them in the streets, try the courts. That’s what Garry Kasparov looks to be doing with his 30 million ruble lawsuit against Nashi. According to Kasparov’s camp the lawsuit is in defense of his “honor, dignity, business reputation and compensation for moral injury” inflicted by Nashi. At the center are Nashi’s [...]...
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| Living High on the Svin’ia |
| 2008-02-17 13:16:41 |
The Russian financial magazine Finans has published more proof that capitalism under Putin is doing just fine. Fine for the Russia elite that is. Over the last year, Finans reports in its yearly tally of Russian super rich, the number of Russian billionaires has shot from 61 to 101. Their combined wealth [...]...
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| On “s†Words and “i†Words |
| 2008-02-16 12:07:36 |
Dmitri Medvedev’s speech to the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum might be an indication of what he has in store for Russia. Before a crowd of Russian businessmen, Medvedev laid out his vision in a forty minute speech; a vision that when boiled down doesn’t look to rock the boat too much.
One of Medvedev’s themes [...]...
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| Putin’s Final Dog and Pony Show |
| 2008-02-14 18:55:58 |
Four hours and forty minutes. Two hours and six minutes of which were broadcast live on Russian TV. One thousand three hundred and sixty-four journalists. Over 100 questions from fifty-two reporters. Those are some heady stats. When the vozhd’ speaks, the media listens.
Putin appeared loose in his final showcase. Reuters described his performance as “mixed [...]...
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| “Tolya, my colleagues. Didn’t I make myself clear?†|
| 2008-02-12 16:10:06 |
Winston Churchill was never without an insightful quip about Russia. In 1939, he made his famous Russia is “a mystery wrapped inside an enigma.” Just when you think he couldn’t top that, at some point he made this apt observation: “Watching clans in Russia is like watching dogs fighting under a carpet.” If [...]...
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| The Myth of the Democratic Model |
| 2008-02-11 17:03:40 |
My latest piece for The eXile is now online. Here is an excerpt of “The Myth of the Democratic Model“:
Stanford poli-sci prof and Commissar of Transitionology, Michael McFaul, is quiet no more. After a few years of relative reticence, McFaul, once known as the most gregarious cheerleader for the Yeltsin regime, was smoked [...]...
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| Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock |
| 2008-02-06 12:06:07 |
“Belligerent nationalism, xenophobia, appeals to violence and ethnic hatred have always been and will always be a time bomb under our sovereignty,” Putin told the heads of the Interior Ministry today. This is quite a frank admission on the part of Putin, who has often been accused using nationalism and xenophobia to the Kremlin’s [...]...
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| The Conundrum of Democracy |
| 2008-02-05 07:50:37 |
Last week, Human Rights Watch released its annual report, World Report 2008, and its assessment of Russia has few surprises. The police crackdown on the Dissenters’ Marches, the detention and brutalization of protesters, the jailing of Kasparov, the legislative restrictions and government closings of NGOs, the application and extension of the Extremist Law, the efforts [...]...
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| Russia’s un-Election |
| 2008-02-03 12:20:23 |
Dmitri Medvedev refuses to debate, is conducting a low key campaign, and has no identifiable platform. Yet, he leads the polls with an overwhelming 71 percent. The Russian Presidential Election officially kicked off on Saturday and Tsarevich Dmitri might as well start picking out his office furniture. Thank god the Russian electoral [...]...
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| Nashi Perestroika |
| 2008-02-01 13:08:47 |
So everyone is declaring Nashi’s death. According to Kommersant and other Russian media, Nashi plans on shutting down 45 of its 50 branches. All that will remain are chapters in Tula, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl. The consensus reasoning is that Nashi has outlived its purpose. Russia is no longer threatened [...]...
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| Moscow Costs but Pays |
| 2008-01-28 03:23:21 |
The fact that Moscow is expensive city is well known. For the second consecutive year, the Cost of Living Survey, which is conducted by the Mercer Human Resource Consulting has ranked Russia’s capital as the most expensive city in the world. Expensive it is. For western expatriates. But what [...]...
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| Vladimir Vysotsky Turns 70 |
| 2008-01-25 13:32:19 |
Today would have been the famed Soviet bard, actor, and conscious of a generation Vladimir Vysotsky’s 70th birthday. Vysotsky, who died in 1980 at the age of 42 from heart failure, perhaps proves once again that “its better to burn out, than to fade away.” True enough. Vysotsky’s great cultural impact in [...]...
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| Russian Markets on “Rollercoaster Ride†|
| 2008-01-23 13:17:59 |
Stock markets around the world continue to fall despite the Bush Administration’s preemptive strike before the New York Exchange opened on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve tried its own version of shock and awe as it cut interest rates a “dramatic” 0.75 percent. The monetary defibrillator worked for a bit. The New York Exchange [...]...
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| Mapping Freedom |
| 2008-01-17 14:54:04 |
Russia is not free. That’s the conclusion Freedom House has made in its new report “Freedom in the World 2008.” According to its scorecard, Russia received a “6″ in Political Rights and a “5″ in Civil Liberties. The scale puts “1″ as the most free and “7″ as “not free.” The [...]...
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| Down but Not Out |
| 2008-01-17 11:39:33 |
It seems that I was led astray. Or I didn’t read the fine print. I was under the impression that the Moscow News had ceased publication. I found out about this from a story in the Toronto Star by Kelly Toughill which Robert Amsterdam posted on his blog. In her article [...]...
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| Neither Purge nor Coup |
| 2008-01-09 14:53:57 |
There is so much to say about Anders Aslund’s “Purge or Coup?” commentary in the Moscow Times. The big question on his mind is why Putin isn’t going to retire as promised. Aslund’s reasons are twofold: 1) There have been “serious accusations of corruption and grand larceny” raised against Putin requiring him [...]...
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| Peering into Putin’s Soul |
| 2008-01-07 13:55:44 |
Does Vladimir Putin have a soul? He doesn’t if you ask Hillary Clinton. In a campaign stump in New Hampshire, Clinton pondered the existence of Putin’s soul as a means to crack at George Bush’s foreign policy. She said:
“Bush really premised so much of our foreign policy on his personal [...]...
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| Gazprom’s Imperial Foray |
| 2008-01-05 12:40:52 |
I can’t help taking a minute to return to Lionel Beehner’s “Why Russia Matters Less Than We Think.” In regard to how Russia’s as energy colossus shouldn’t worry Americans, he writes:
Russia is an energy powerhouse. Maybe, but little of its natural gas goes toward American consumers (indeed, Stolichnaya ads notwithstanding, we do remarkably little trade [...]...
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| Nashi Comes of Age |
| 2008-01-03 14:25:18 |
Third Congresses seem to have great significance in the history of Russia’s pro-state youth organizations. The 3rd Komsomol Congress held in 1920 steered the organization away from Civil War to socialist construction. It was there that Lenin gave his famous “The Tasks of the Youth Leagues” speech that urged that young communists must [...]...
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| Johnny Depp as Young Stalin? |
| 2008-01-03 11:15:35 |
I have yet to read Simon Sebag Montefiore’s acclaimed Young Stalin. Now I might not have to. According to the Guardian, Montefiore has signed a contract with Miramax, producer Alison Owen of Elizabeth fame, and screenwriter John Hodge of Trainspotting to do a celluloid version of the book. Not a bad follow-up to receiving the [...]...
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| Social Science Fiction |
| 2007-12-29 12:40:41 |
My first article for the eXile is now online. Here is an excerpt from “A Russian-Watcher’s Fairytale“:
Russia and the world were stunned by the assassination of Vladimir Putin as he walked out of a midnight mass at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on January 7, 2008.” This line is not out of Brad [...]...
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| Putin’s Wealth: The Next Episode? |
| 2007-12-23 12:01:41 |
I first learned from Andy over at Siberian Light about the press brouhaha over Putin’s alleged $40 billion tucked away in banks in Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Intrigued, I set my sights on said press accounts for the story.
Claims of Putin’s hidden money bags comes from an interview Stanislav Belkovsky recently gave to Die Welt. [...]...
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| The “Dark Double” |
| 2007-12-08 14:16:17 |
David S. Foglesong, The American Mission and the “Evil Empire”: The Crusade for a “Free Russia” since 1881, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
“Civilization is spreading rapidly eastward, it cannot stop or go around Russia, and whether with bayonet or psalm-book the march will be made through every part of the Tsar’s dominion.” Such were the [...]...
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| King Kadyrov |
| 2007-12-07 07:56:40 |
For Chechen hetman Ramzan Kadyrov, last weekend’s Duma elections was just another opportunity to show his loyalty to Moscow and further entrench his own power. 99.36 percent of the Chechen vote–574,101 votes out of an electorate of 580,918–went to United Russia. A staggering turnout of 99.5 percent. A number which appeared to [...]...
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| Bread and Butter |
| 2007-12-04 19:08:58 |
Here’s something to chew on. Nicolai Petro asks in his column “Why Russian Liberals Lose“:
“Why have Russia’s self-proclaimed “liberals” done so badly at attracting popular support?” A few reasons actually. First, he states that liberals like Vladimir Ryzhkov, Irina Khakamada, Grigory Yavinsky, Mikhail Kasyanov and Boris Nemtsov’s initial embrace of figures like [...]...
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| “Hello mama. It’s me, Vladimir. I won the elections” |
| 2007-12-03 00:58:11 |
Putin must love it when a plan comes together. With around 85 percent of precincts reporting, United Russia has captured an albeit predictable landslide. The numbers break down as follows:
United Russia: 63.2 percent
Communist Party: 11.7 percent
Liberal Democratic Party: 8.4 percent
Just Russia: 8 percent
Other Parties: 8.7 percent
The percentage [...]...
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| The Storm Before the Calm |
| 2007-11-30 17:07:16 |
As I’m write, the last day of electioneering is closing in Moscow. Now we wait for Sunday to see the results of what some Western media outlets are speculating might be “Russia’s last,” “the least democratic election since the USSR collapsed,” and a symbol of Russia’s return to “a Byzantine form of state-society relations” [...]...
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| “I would vote for him and I support him.” |
| 2007-11-30 04:46:53 |
Gorbachev endorsed Putin in an interview with the London Times. “I would vote for him and I support him. Based on what I know, and comparing him with other candidates, I would prefer Putin.” Gorby then added this:
“Putin has brought stabilization to Russia. Not everyone would have been able to cope with the kind [...]...
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| Elections Dagestani Style |
| 2007-11-27 20:41:31 |
Kommersant has published more about the incident involving SPS candidate Nukha Nukhov in Dagestan. Here are some additional details from the story. As a result of the fight between Nukhov and Mohammed Aliev on 11 March, 1700 SPS votes were annulled from the election without a quorum of regional election officials but by [...]...
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| The Vampires of Votes |
| 2007-11-27 14:54:14 |
T-minus five days and counting. Here’s today’s roundup. The Christian Science Monitor, which I heard was once known for its objectivity, has apparently dumped it. In an editorial titled “Putin’s Potemkin Election,” CSM states that the Duma elections signal the end of Russia’s multi-party system. “In reality Russia is becoming a [...]...
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| Waiting for the Clampdown |
| 2007-11-26 13:53:05 |
Responses to the Dissenter’s March continues. The Nation’s Katrina Vanden Huevel calls for a fight to press freedom in Russia. This comes amid news that Russian authorities shut down the Samara branch of Novaya gazeta two weeks ago. The police charged Novaya editors with using pirated software. You gotta love [...]...
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| (An)other Russia Rally |
| 2007-11-26 01:13:44 |
Things are looking bad for Russia’s floundering “opposition”. I say “opposition” because the Western media has declared the Russia’s liberal forces–Yabloko, SPS, and Other Russia–the true challengers to Putin and United Russia rather than the real opposition, the Communists. Be that as it may. Apparently, pumping up small and insignificant parties is [...]...
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| “Soft Underbelly”? |
| 2007-11-21 01:58:06 |
Ditch the dollar. That’s what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged his fellow OPECers to embrace. It’s a move that makes the Financial Times‘ editorial board think that Iran’s strategy is to hit the United States’ “soft underbelly”: the dollar. “They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper,” Admadinejad told reporters after [...]...
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| Yabloko Youth Detained and Complained |
| 2007-11-20 20:51:09 |
Lenta.ru reports that Ivan Bolshakov, the Moscow head of Yabloko Youth, was subjected to a criminal search and detention. He has now been released from custody. Bolshakov was detained in the Kursk train station in Moscow as he and Ilya Yashin waited to board a train to Nizhny Novgorod for a pre-election trip. According to [...]...
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