May
28
Blackening the White Paper
May 28, 2008 | 52 Comments
My new eXile article, Nemtsov’s White Paper: Bombshell or Dud?, is now online. Here is an excerpt:
Lilia Shevtsova, a fellow at Moscow’s Carnegie Center, called it a “bomb, which anywhere but in Russia would cause the country to collapse.” Writing in the New York Review of Books, Amy Knight called it “a devastating picture [...]
May
26
Moscow’s Not So Far
May 26, 2008 | 27 Comments
Dima Bilan’s victory at Eurovision is bound to bring more interest in Russian music. But where is a English speaker to go? I recommend directing your browser to Far from Moscow, a new blog by UCLA Slavic Professor David MacFadyen. MacFadyen has written several books on Russian popular television, music, film and culture. [...]
May
25
Commie Sect Denounces Dr. Jones
May 25, 2008 | 41 Comments
Russian Communists don’t like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, reports the Associated Press. But the communists in question are not the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), as the report implies. There are several communist parties in Russia and the one that has began a campaign against Indy is [...]
May
24
Peace “Very Low” in Russia
May 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
Russia just can’t catch a break when it comes to global indexes. Whether its corruption, living standards, media freedom, and or just plain freedom, Russia always lands on the wrong side of fence. Russia’s new failed grade is in “peace.” According to Global Peace Index, a survey conducted by Vision of Humanity, Russia [...]
May
20
Russia’s Commanding Heights
May 20, 2008 | 5 Comments
I found a great PBS documentary called Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy while searching for video for a lecture on the Yeltsin years. PBS has put all the film’s chapters online, and I wanted to let readers know about the segments on Russia:
Communism on the Heights, 6:16
The Ghosts of Norilsk, 4:27
Behind the [...]
