Tag: revanchism

Western Leaders Must Make Putin Lose Face Not Help Him Save It, Skobov Says

January 28, 2015

Staunton, January 28 – Vladimir Putin is very much afraid of losing face, and some in the West are trying to figure out how to resolve the situation in Ukraine without his doing so. But what they should be focusing on, Aleksandr Skobov says, is precisely how to “help him lose face and break his […]

Russian Elites Still View Putin as Their Defense Against the Russian People, Skobov Says

October 30, 2014

Staunton, October 29 – Members of Russian elites see Vladimir Putin as the only person who can maintain the existing system in which they are beneficiaries and protect them from having to go head to head with the Russian people as a whole, Aleksandr Skobov says. Consequently, they will stick with him even if they […]

If Moscow Returned Crimea to Ukraine, What Else Might It Have to Give Back – and to Whom?

October 24, 2014

Staunton, October 23 – In the course of a discussion of why he argues Moscow will have to reverse the Anschluss of Crimea at the end of Russia’s war with Ukraine, Andrey Illarionov says that the Russian government could lose many other disputed territories to neighboring countries. The Russian commentator lists the following territories which […]

Moscow Didn’t Win Latvian Vote But Can Learn Some Lessons from It, Russian Commentator Says

October 9, 2014

Staunton, October 5 – Despite upbeat comments by a number of Russian media outlets yesterday and today that “ours” (having in mind Soglasiye), won the [Latvian parliamentary] elections,” Igor Pavlovsky says, “the facts are that [the members of that party] are not ‘ours’ and they did not win.” According to the Regnum news agency commentator, […]

Zhirinovsky’s Plan for Ukraine’s Destruction Must Be Taken Seriously, Illarionov Say

September 25, 2014

Staunton, September 25 – At a time when Vladimir Putin has made what was earlier unthinkable into reality, it would be a major mistake to ignore a recent statement by Vladimir Zhirinovsky about how Ukraine will be reduced in size or even eliminated altogether in the coming years, according to Andrey Illarionov. In an article […]

Russia This Week: 26,000 Protest War in Ukraine at Moscow Peace March (September 15-21)

September 21, 2014

Updated Daily. This week’s issue: – Further Peace March Arrests: 7 in St. Petersburg; 2 in Yekaterinburg; 2 in Barnaul – Peace March of 26,000 in Moscow Finishes Without Incident; A Few Arrests Reported – At Least 10,000 in Peace March in Moscow – AP – 5,000 March in St. Petersburg Despite Ban – ‘If […]

Economic and Political Weakness, Not ‘Imperial Syndrome,’ Behind Putin’s Plans, Rogov Says

April 2, 2014

Staunton, April 2 – Vladimir Putin is driven less by the “imperial syndrome” some are pointing to than by his own sense of the weakness as a result of his continuing reliance on the export of natural resources and his opposition to “the internal West” which wants Russia to modernize, according to Kirill Rogov. As […]

Putin Dragging International Community back to a Pre-Westphalian World, Inozemtsev Says

March 27, 2014

Staunton, March 27 – Under international law at the present time, one country can interfere in the affairs of another “either as response to aggression, as a defense of its own citizens, or in reaction to massive force and genocide,” Vladislav Inozemtsev writes in today’s Vedomosti. But Vladimir Putin’s actions in Crimea, which he justifies […]

Putin has Re-Awakened Russian Messianism, Pastukhov Says

March 26, 2014

Staunton, March 26 – By his annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin has re-awakened the imperial dimension of Russian messianism, a force that has been contained since 1991 but that now will lead to ever-broader conflicts that will lead either to a Russian victory over all its supposed enemies or the collapse of Russia, Vladimir Pastukhov […]