Tag: Barack Obama

Ukraine Liveblog Day 107: Separatists Take National Guard Barracks in Lugansk

June 4, 2014

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 our costs. An interactive map of the situation: View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For links to individual […]

Putin Much Less Dangerous Personally Than is His ‘Russian World’ Idea, Piontkovsky Says

May 24, 2014

Staunton, May 18 – Vladimir Putin’s conception of a “Russian world,” of “the idea of the uniqueness of the Russian man,” is “much more dangerous for the world than is Putin himself,” according to Andrey Piontkovsky. And the West must fight “this nightmare” by discrediting its author and showing that it “doesn’t work” Speaking to […]

Racism and Anti-Semitism Ceasing to Be ‘Indecent’ in Putin’s Russia

May 21, 2014

Staunton, May 21 – In 1920, Siberian writer Anton Sorokin made fun of the White Russian regime there with a story entitled “33 Scandals for Kolchak.” The scandals he identified were invented, but Cityboom, Moscow’s online newspaper has now posted six all-too-real “scandals of the year” in Russia showing “how racism and anti-Semitism have ceased […]

West has Given Putin a ‘Mandate’ to Take as Much of Ukraine as He Wants, Latynina Says

April 22, 2014

Staunton, April 21 – The Geneva accords represent “a complete victory” for Vladimir Putin and “the complete capitulation of Europe and Ukraine,” which when translated out of diplomatic language gives the Kremlin leader “a mandate” to seize as much of Ukraine as he wants, according to Yuliya Latynina. On her Saturday evening program on Ekho […]

What Is Putin’s Ideology? Interpreter Podcast April 9 2014

April 9, 2014

This week, Boston College Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and Interpreter Magazine’s managing editor James Miller discuss the Russian President Vladimir Putin. What drives him? Do we really understand him? How do Russians view the West, and what is Russia’s endgame in eastern Europe? We examine these questions through an article written by John Schindler called Obama […]

Ulrich Speck on German-Russian Relations

March 27, 2014

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 […]

Sochi: Should They Stay or Should They Go?

December 23, 2013

After reading the news about Francois Hollande, President Vladimir urgently convened his cabinet: “Yes, we can do the meeting without Dmitry at all.  Let him finished his game of Angry Birds” – growled the President before hanging up. Five minutes later everyone was already in the room with their documents and pencil cases, someone even came […]

Putin: The Godfather of the World

November 27, 2013

This analysis appeared in Ekho Moskvy, traditionally a more liberal outlet that often criticizes Putin. Though long, it is a fascinating analysis of the dynamic between Putin, Obama, and Assad, and argues that Putin, like “The Godfather,” manipulated the situation in order to come out on top. – Ed. “I read in his face a […]

Obama Does Not Believe in a Military Solution to the Syrian Conflict

September 26, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama made a speech to the United Nations on Tuesday. He addressed many issues, but there were two key areas, the crisis in Syria and Iran’s nuclear program, that were his focus. On Syria, Obama said that Assad must be held accountable for using chemical weapons on August 21st, an event with […]

Indifference and Cruelty in Russia, from the Street to the Duma

September 17, 2013

There are things you cannot eliminate by changing the regime, boycotting the Winter Olympics in Sochi, or imposing international sanctions. These are human cruelty, indifference to others, and ignorance. In Russia, cruelty, indifference and ignorance are commonplace. Some people get used to them, others end up tolerating them. You will always come across someone who will find pleasure in humiliating, offending […]