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 16 – The Russian government is laying the groundwork for a Ukrainian scenario in the Baltic countries, arguing that the three are mistreating ethnic Russians, that the West has failed to oppose such actions, and that Moscow is compelled under the circumstances to work to protect these members of “the Russian world.” Konstantin […]
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 15 – More than 3,500 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine in the course of Vladimir Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people, according to Elena Vasilyeva of Murmansk. That figure is roughly one quarter of the number Moscow claimed it lost in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. But Russian media have ignored or […]
Staunton, September 14 – Central Asians never have been happy that many in the outside world lump them altogether as “the stans” or under an even more disparaging rubric. Earlier this year, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev talked about renaming his country “Kazakh Eli,” and now some politicians in Kyrgyzstan are doing the same. (For a […]
Staunton, September 14 – The Russian occupation of Crimea has brought with it a return to “Soviet times in their most cynical manifestations,” one without freedom but with denunciations, according to Refat Chubarov, head of the Crimean Tatar Milli Mejis. Tragically, he says, the situation after today’s elections “will become still worse.” That is why, […]
Staunton, September 14 – It has become a mantra among Western leaders and commentators that the only solution to the fighting in Ukraine is a diplomatic one involving negotiations, but Andrey Illarionov says that “all of the possible solutions” to Putin’s subversion and aggression in Ukraine are military ones. Speaking to a session of the […]
Staunton, September 12 – It is a commonplace to observe that Russia has been much changed over the last 50 years as a result of social and political convulsions, but two Moscow researchers have now focused on the ways in which those dramatic events have affected the life trajectories of various generations. According to Alla […]
Staunton, September 12 – In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s dissolution of the Regional Affairs Ministry and his distribution of its functions to various other ministries, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has called for the creation of a state committee on inter-ethnic relations, although she says that whether that happens will be up to the […]
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 […]
