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July 17th, 2010Russia Blog Roundup – Thanksgiving Weekend
November 29th, 2008Before we get into the best posts of the week, some blog news:
- The Power Vertical is a new blog by Brian Whitmore and Robert Coalson, two jouranlists at RFE/RL. Brian and Robert have only been blogging for a couple of weeks, but already they’re packed TPV with excellent content . This definitely looks like a blog to bookmark / add to your RSS reader.
- Da Russophile has moved and renamed – please redirect your bookmarks to Sublime Oblivion.
- Robert Amsterdam has a shiny new look.
Now this week’s top blog posts:
- Talking of Robert Amsterdam – he keeps churning out the quality content. This post about Russia’s Financial Beslan is the pick of this week’s crop.
- Eugene Ivanov Reports on the latest United Russia Party conference. He sees a party suffering a crisis of identity.
- According to Lyndon, they’ve taken the crazy pipe decorations out of the ceiling at Sheremetyevo 2. What am I going to stare blankly at now when I’m travelling through Moscow??
- Dmitry Medvedev could be a great actor.
- Russia Blog looks back at 20th Century Pirates – released in 1980, it’s widely regarded as the greatest Soviet action movie ever.
OK. That’s it for this week. If you celebrate Thanksgiving (or even if you don’t) – have a great weekend!
Save money – be smelly like Zhirinovsky
November 27th, 2008Russian loony Far Right leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has been setting working hard to save his roubles in the current financial crisis.
Clearly no fan of personal hygeine, he explains his money saving regime:
“I have been thrifty. I am not having my hair cut. My hair has already grown longer than ever. I only shave every other day. I eat very little. I never go out. I never invite anyone over to my place. I don’t buy presents for anyone and I am asking people not to buy anything for me. I am not travelling anywhere,” he said.
Zhirinovskiy also said there was no need to spend money on personal hygiene products because “all these are chemical and hazardous”. Fewer newspapers should be bought because the same newspaper can be shared “by all next-door neighbours” or perhaps “the entire block”, he continued.
(Via Johnson’s Russia List 2008 ~215)
If he follows this policy though, I’m not sure how well he’s going to be able to implement his Christmas policy:
“As for Christmas celebrations, there is no need to travel abroad or to go to a restaurant. Stay in Moscow, stay at home or invite yourself over to someone else’s place.”
Good old Vlad. If he wasn’t such an unpleasant (and now smelly) man I’d say something like “Gotta love him”. I wouldn’t invite him over for Christmas, though. Even if he washed specially.
PS – Vlad’s also reckons Russia should rename its President as “Supreme Ruler”
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Putin – Eurovision Duet
November 25th, 2008
Of all the exciting things Vladimir Putin has to do, nothing compares with meeting Andrew Lloyd Webber, the maestro behind Phantom of the Opera and Britain’s next Eurovision Song Contest Entry.
British theatre magazine The Stage reports:
According to ALW’s own website: “The two men met at Prime Minister Putin’s dacha. They spoke for nearly an hour about a wide range of serious matters, including Russia’s relationship with Europe, its relationship with the UK, as well as the Eurovision Song Contest.”
[...]Elaine Bedell, BBC controller of entertainment commissioning said (we’re not making this up): “This was an historic meeting – Andrew Lloyd Webber meets Prime Minster Putin – to discuss the UK’s prospects in Eurovision.”
Apparently Putin – who shall henceforth be known in Russia as ‘Putin the Traitor’ and in England as ‘Putin the Beloved But Tone Deaf’ – has promised Lloyd Webber that he’ll personally pick up the phone and vote for Britain instead of Russia in this year’s song contest.
Business New Europe (BNE) cut prices
November 21st, 2008
Just a quick note to let you know that BNE (Business New Europe) have cut prices for access to their content.
Full access to the website is now €30 ($38) per year, and access to their Russian email list is €40 ($50) per year.
BNE set up a few years ago, and describe themselves as:
“the only magazine covering business, economics, finance and politics in the dynamic new markets of central, eastern and southeast Europe.”
From what I’ve seen BNE’s reporting and analysis is high quality – certainly, their articles regularly appear in Johnson’s Russia List. If you’re interested in business in Russia or Eastern Europe, this could be bargain.
If you’re curious, BNE are offering a month’s free trial to new users. I had a free trial a year or so back, and found it really useful but, at the time, couldn’t justify the price. I’m tempted to reconsider.
(PS – before you ask – I am absolutely not being paid to write nice things about BNE!!)
Georgia war – both sides bad
November 19th, 2008At last! A report that recognises that both Russia and Georgia did some pretty shocking things during the war in August.
The report said that in attacking Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, on Aug. 7 and 8, Georgia fired Grad missiles that seemed to miss their targets and hit civilian areas. It also criticized Russia for bombarding Georgian territory later and for allowing South Ossetian forces to loot ethnic Georgian villages for weeks.
Both sides, the report concludes, used cluster bombs.
Hooray for Amnesty International. Boo for war.
About time.
Robert Amsterdam 2.0
November 19th, 2008Check out the new look Robert Amsterdam 2.0 – very swish.
I really like the new look. If nothing else it’s inspired a huge boost in productivity – a stunning 18 posts appeared yesterday! I’m very curious about the new category headings across the top of the page though – does this mean that Robert Amsterdam will be writing less about Russia in the future? I hope not!
Russia Blog Roundup – 16 November
November 16th, 2008Before I kick of this week’s best posts, I wanted to point you in the direction of Misha’s Russia Blog. Scroll down to the Gorbachev Obama post for the coolest picture of the week.
Now, on to this week’s roundup:
- Why do the British hate the Russians so? Mat Rodina thinks it’s because post-imperial Britain is now a second rate European power, and because it’s descending into a Orwellian police state. Speaking as a British subject who has managed to briefly hide away from the CCTV cameras, I think it’s because Russia’s just so damn cool. We’ve moved on from the French who are, frankly, a bit dull. Seriously – can you imagine James Bond taking on the French?
- By the way – everyone’s interested in the new James Bond film this week. The President of Russia wants you to know that Daniel Craig is a wimp, and that a Russian stuntman did all the hard work. Eagle and Bear is really grumpy about the translated title – Quantum of Mercy. Russia Blog profiles Olga Kuriyenko, the first Russian (well, Ukrainian) actress to play a Bond Girl. I merely want to point you in the direction of my post which conclusively demonstrates that Russian Bond Girls are the sexiest. Even if they’re not played by Russian actresses.
- Ever wanted to read Russian language blog posts, but don’t speak enough Russian? Google has the answer – automatic translation of blog feeds. Timothy Post explains how Google helps you to read Russian without having to speak Russian.
- Plenty of blogs have been covering this week’s fatal submarine accident. As you’d expect, Russian Navy Blog has the best coverage and analysis – here, here and here.
- This week saw the 20th Anniversary of Russia’s Buran Space Shuttle. Windows to Russia has put together a brief photo tribute to the Buran, and the Russian Navy Blog reports on how the Buran saved the world from war in space. The last surviving Buran is sadly tucked away in a German museum – earlier this year, I posted some sad pictures of the Buran’s final trip down the Rhine.
- Congratulations to Russian Blog, which is celebrating its first birthday.
- ??????? (pindosy). It’s a rude word used by Russians to describe Americans. Eternal Remont has the background.
- A Russian anarchist group called War project a green laser skull and crossbones on the Russian White House.
- Lex Libertas has dug out some old school pictures of Soviet adverts. My favourite’s the pig and the fish cuddling a jar of mayonnaise.
- Finally – for your walking pleasure – Soviet Carpets with pictures of Lenin for you to stomp on.
Well that’s it for this week. If you can’t wait for next week’s installment, be sure to check out the Russia Blogs page over at my new website Russian News Online.
Does Ukraine hold the key to Russia's future?
November 14th, 2008
The MIT World Policy Journal is celebrating its 25th anniversary by making access to its Fall 2008 journal for free until the end of November.
The 25th anniversary issue looks ahead to the next 25 years and, in Russia’s Rotting Empire, Nina L Khrushcheva (yes – before you ask – she’s Nikita Kruschev’s great-granddaughter) has penned a look at Russia’s next quarter century.
It’s an interesting article overall, but there were two things I found particularly interesting.
First – Khrushcheva’s view that political change in Russia is cyclical:
“…periods of ‘remission’ (a retreat from total dictatorship) or reforms, and periods of ‘oppression’ or stability have alternated consistently in the last century…”
I do agree, but wonder – if we accept that Russia is in the early stages of a period of “oppression”, how deep will it go, and how long will it be before the next about turn that leads towards reform. Are we in for many more years of sliding towards authoritarianism and a strong Russian state, or will the more frantic pace of globalisation speed up the Russian political cycle?
The second point, which I found intriguing given the disdain with which many Russians view Ukraine (and the fact that Khrushchev was a Ukrainian), was Khrushcheva’s argument that Ukraine could hold the key to Russia’s future.
“Russians know that Ukrainians are the same as them, a people similar in their culture and mentality. If they have made their choice, why can’t we do the same? Thus, if Ukraine succeeds over the next 25 years, it may herald the political death of Putinism.
[...]The best way to help Russia today is to help Ukraine over the coming decades support its claim that it belongs within the European fold, among European institutions.”
Ukraine is at a bit of a cross roads at the moment, and seems like it could go either way. It is clearly an ideal target for both European / US and Russian foreign policy, and I’d imagine it’s going to be a hell of a cultural and political battleground in the coming years. But I have no idea what direction Ukraine will take.
What do you think? Who will come out on top in Ukraine? Will the next couple of years in Kiev set the tone for the next couple of decades in Moscow?
What if the Romanovs had been restored?
November 12th, 2008Martin Gilbert, writing in the Times, imagines an entirely different end to the First World War:
Imagine: in October 1918, Lloyd George’s Cabinet is planning for a prolonged struggle in 1919. Haig’s solution promises to avoid a confrontation even bloodier than the Somme or Passchendaele. The Government agrees. Germany’s main condition is to keep the vast swath of Russia that her troops have occupied since the Bolshevik revolution and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March.
With peace made with Germany on Haig’s terms by mid-October, the British troops already in Russia have a German ally to help them to crush what Churchill calls “the foul baboonery of Bolshevism”.
Gilbert goes on to observe that Germany would probably still start a second war at some stage – probably with France, because there would be no Polish and Czechosolvak states for Germany to expand into. And, rather hopefully, he suggests that a newly restored Imperial Russia would repay its war debts to Britain, allowing Britain to build a postwar build a postwar cuontry “fit for heroes”.
But nothing about how a restored Romanov dynasty would survive in the new-old Russia.
So, I thought I’d throw a few thoughts – questions really – of my own out there.
Let’s imagine that an Immperial Romanov Dynasty has retained control of the Kremlin with the help of a motley alliance of Russian Whites, and British and German troops. How widely would they be accepted by the Russian public, two years after a pair of revolutions, and at the end of a brief civil war?
On the plus side, they’d presumably have physical control of the apparatus of state, and be backed by foreign money and troops if necessary in the short term. If they could bring some measure of stability, they would presumably be able to count of some gratitude from the public at large.
But, on the down side, they’d be trying to re-establish the divine right of the Romanovs to rule over a people that had experienced (albiet not very succesfully) self rule. The Bolsheviks might have been vanquished, but left-leaning opposition groups would presumably still exist and have at least some measure of support among the people. And how many of the middle classes would have been inspired by the prospect of Kerensky’s failed provisional government?
Also – how would the Americans influence the new-old Russia? If the United States had been able to play a significant role, wouldn’t they have insisted on some pretty significant democratic reforms in Russia? Or would they have been marginalised by an Anglo-German axis?
Being so reliant on British and German support would also post real problems for the Russian government. Britain especially would want Russia to repay its debts, which would be a strain on the public finances – not entirely desirable in a country shattered by years of brutal warfare. If political favours are also asked of Russia, would this reduce the government to a puppet in the eyes of its people?
Lots of questions, I know. Anyone want to take a stab at answering some of them in the comments below?
