Daily Archives: March 16, 2006

The question “Why do Russians love Stalin?” continues to fascinate observers but often serves as a means for them to paint Russians as inherently “abnormal,” authoritarian and violent. I think that Professor Andrei P. Tsygankov of San Francisco State University has given one of the most reasonable explanations why Russians continue to look favorably toward Stalin. Here is a snippet, but I encourage readers to check out the whole thing.

It is misleading to interpret strong public support for the revolution, Stalin or the Soviet Union as evidence for the Russians’ inability to come to grips with their past. Instead, such support confirms their refusal to come to grips with the present situation of mass poverty, coupled with a largely inefficient and persistently corrupt state. In the public mind, Yeltsinism, as a system that has created such a state, lives on. Unsurprisingly, a growing sympathy for Stalin strongly correlates ..read more

Tensions in Belarus mount as elections approach. The drama is reaching a fever pitch. Arrests of opposition members and activists have increased in the last few days. Now RFE/RL is reporting that over 20 members of opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich, including his key aide Anatol Lyabedzka has been arrested. The EU is threatening sanctions. And Washington, as if it has any credibility in these matters, has condemned the arrests. Now the Belarus KGB is accusing the US and Georgia of backing a coup. As one can see from doing a Google search for news on Belarus, the media is flooded with stories. However, for the life of me I can’t figure out what all this means. We know that the elections will be rigged. We know that there is an opposition that is being unjustly labeled terrorists and are victims ..read more