Category Archives: Uncategorized

The new issue of the New Left Review has two articles on Russia worth reading. The first, “Russia Redux?” by Vladimir Popov, examines the macroeconomic trends Russia has experienced since Putin became president. Though “there is more stability in Russia today than during the rocky 1990s,” Popov argues, compared to other post-Soviet republics “Russia’s performance is not that impressive.” Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and, to some extent, Armenia all “reached or exceeded their pre-recession (1989) levels of output by 2006, whereas Russian GDP was still only at 85 per cent of the 1989 level.” Further he states the reason for Russia lax growth rate is due to the ruble’s overvalue and economy’s sandy foundations:

The reason for the 2001–06 deceleration in growth was the overvaluation of the real exchange rate—the typical Dutch disease that Russia has developed once again. It ..read more

Russian metals mogul Alisher Usmanov wants Cheburashka to come home. And he’s willing to plop down $3 million to buy back the international rights for the creature “not known to science” from the US firm Films by Jove. Stating that “our heritage must be returned to Russia,” Usmanov, who is also a fan of Cheburashka, wants to give the 500 cartoons to a children’s television channel proposed by Putin. The problem is that Films by Jove is asking a $10 million. For Usmanov it should be that big of a problem. The guy is worth an estimated $2.6 billion.

Cheburashka was created in 1969 by cartoonist Eduard Uspensky. “One day, during the Bolshevik era, I saw this tiny girl,” Uspensky told RFE/RL.

And she was wearing a beaver coat, an enormous flappy thing. And this little girl took a step ..read more

Last month Alexander Dugin boasted that his Eurasian Youth Union could bring out 1500 participants to their Imperial March. They got about 600-700 according to Kommersant (RFE/RL claims no more than 400 attended). It also seems that the Russian authorities have much more tolerance toward the far right than the left. A few days before the march, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov granted the International Eurasian Movement a permit to march down Tverskaya to Revolution Square. But there seems to be some confusion on this permit. Other news agencies, like the Moscow Times and RFE/RL, report that Luzhkov only granted a permit for a two hour rally at Mayakovskaya. In contrast, the mayor’s office has rejected a similar request by the “March of the Discontented” for April 14.

There were no reported arrests and no clubbing of demonstrators. That doesn’t mean that ..read more

Posts are going to be light over the next two weeks as I concentrate on finishing my dissertation chapter on the legacy of the Russian Civil War in the Komsomol. Just thought I make an announcement in case anyone is wondering about the lack of posting.

Tags: Komsomol|Soviet Union|history

It appears that the Soviet practice of erasing history from sight and therefore mind continues in Putin’s Russia. Kommersant reports that contrary to the position of the Duma’s Upper Chamber, the State Duma has ruled to remove the hammer and sickle from the WWII Victory Banner, which was raised on the German Reichstag on May 1, 1945.

Support and opposition to the move surely breaks along generational/political lines. “As the son of a War veteran, I can’t vote for the bill,” Sergey Minorov, speaker of the Federation Council, said before the vote. “If our elderly are against it, let’s respect their opinion.” Communists have also opposed the change stating that “symbol of Victory Day now looks more like that of the Day of the People’s Republic of China.” Communist MP Viktor Tyulkin stated before the Duma vote, “The main content was conveyed ..read more

Human Rights Watch slapped both Russia and the United States in the face this week. The first slap was the release of a 43 page report detailing how the US sent seven “enemy combatants” held at Guantanamo Bay to Russia. The result was all seven, Rustam Akhmiarov, Ravil Gumarov, Timur Ishmuratov, Shamil Khazhiev, Rasul Kudaev, Ruslan Odizhev, and Airat Vakhitov, were repeatedly tortured and brutalized by Russian police and security forces. The second slap was a press release condemning Bush’s meeting with Russian Major-General Vladimir Shamanov.

The HRW report, “The Stamp of Guantanamo,” didn’t spare either party from vilification. First, the United States for “stamping” these seven men with the elastic label of “terrorist” and for the “torture and ill treatment” they suffered at Guantanamo. According to the British human rights group Reprieve, this included:

beatings; deliberately inflicting serious pain upon ..read more