Apr

22

Recommended Reading

April 22, 2008 | 11 Comments

Two of my favorite magazines, the London Review of Books and Vanity Fair, have two must read articles on Russia in their recent additions. Vanity Fair’s annual “Green Issue” is full of amazing articles, particularly Phillippe Sands’ well researched article “The Green Light,” which exposes how White House lawyers “legalized” the use of torture.
In […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apr

21

Deconstructing Nashi

April 21, 2008 | 26 Comments

My latest article for the eXile, “Nashi: Is it Really the End?” is now online. Here is an excerpt:
This year, there has been much speculation in the Russian print media about the demise of the Kremlin youth organization “Nashi,” which has been as much a darling of the Russian state as it has been […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Apr

16

The Face of the “Killer”

April 16, 2008 | 1 Comment

The investigation into Anna Politkovskaya murder took another turn yesterday when the Russian news site Life.ru published the photo of the main suspect. According to the website, the suspect, Rustam Makhmudov, the older brother of three individuals arrested by Russian authorities in August, is said to be hiding in London. Life.ru doesn’t say […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Apr

15

Gensek Putin

April 15, 2008 | 106 Comments

Delegates at United Russia’s 9th Congress voted unanimously to make Putin its party chairman. Putin accepted. Surprise, surprise. This possibility has been buzzing around the Russian media for a few weeks now. And in one fail swoop, what was thought to merely be a shell of a political party, has gained importance. Clearly […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apr

9

KPRF takes a stand, Democrats unite, and “Ukraine is not even a state!”

April 9, 2008 | 32 Comments

The post election political lull appears to be over as Russia’s politicians gear up for Medvedev’s presidency. As everyone already knows, Medvedev is expected to nominate Putin as Prime Minister. No one expected any opposition to this, since denying Putin dominance over Russian politics is like preventing tidal wave from hitting the shore. […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apr

7

“Avoiding this heap of memes”

April 7, 2008 | 197 Comments

Michael Idov’s “The Hibernation” has received cheers and jeers from SRB readers. One of the issues Idov’s article raises is the difficultly in reporting on Russia. In Idov’s view the real challenge is to talk about Russia without using the “heap of memes” handed down by decades of Cold War. I couldn’t agree more. Here […]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Apr

7

Nashi Hits the Runway

April 7, 2008 | 3 Comments

Patriotic panties for Putin. That is basically the idea behind Nashi wear designed by model, fashion designer, and commissar Anatonia Shapovalova. Shapovalova’s patriotic fashion line for Nashi activists debuted last summer at Camp Seliger and caused a sensation in December when Nashistki strutted the catwalk bearing more than just the slogan “Vova! I’m […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apr

5

“Putin’s historic achievement”

April 5, 2008 | 146 Comments

Michael Idov’s ” The Hibertation” in the New Republic is a must read.

The New Republic
The Hibernation by Michael Idov
Meet Dmitri Medvedev, a docile president for a docile Russia.
Post Date Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Minutes after the polls closed on March 2 in the westernmost Russian city of Kaliningrad–certifying a blowout victory by presidential candidate Dmitri Anatolyevich […]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Apr

4

The Right but not the Desire to Return

April 4, 2008 | 7 Comments

Russia and Israel have a rather interesting relationship.  Political relations between the countries have been cool for decades, but the increase of Russian immigration and travel to the Jewish nation has inevitably complicated the two nation’s cultural and social ties.  It’s estimated that well over a million Russians have immigrated to Israel since the collapse […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apr

3

Litvinenko Murder Saga Continues

April 3, 2008 | 39 Comments

The recent flurry in the comments section over the polonium poisoning of Aleksandr Litvinenko has inspired me to revisit the issue. When I last left the case, it was reveled that Litvinenko was on retainer with MI6. Andrei Lugovoi, Britain’s chief suspect in the crime, was listed as a Duma candidate on the LDPR ticket. […]

Popularity: 4% [?]