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Boris Yeltsin, on top of a tank in Moscow, declaring an end to the Soviet regime in 1991
When the featured article was being written, the author and the Iranian people still had hopes to find leadership to their quest for freedom. Unfortunately, Mir Hossein Mousavi has not appeared in front of the protestors since the elections of June 12, and yesterday rejected another vote recount. The recent activities in Iran are, undoubtedly, a huge step forward in fostering democracy in this majority Muslim nation. However, they will result in nothing without proper leadership. Russia and China did not have to recognize, much less defend, Ahmadinejad’s victory as soon as they did, but perhaps they knew the painful truth ahead of time: the Iranian opposition has no leader, and a leader is what is so desperately needed at this historic moment.
Charles Krauthammer’s article published over at Townhall.com on June 26 does a great job of describing the difference between Russia’s 1991 and Iran’s 2009: “They need a leader like Boris Yeltsin: a former establishment figure with newly revolutionary credentials and legitimacy, who stands on a tank and gives the opposition direction by calling for the unthinkable -- the abolition of the old political order.” Most Russians remember Yeltsin as a despot, a drunk, and a sometimes embarrassing grandpa. World history will remember him as the man who ended 70 years of an Evil Empire, permanently curing Russia's infection of Communism. Hopefully, four years from now, an Iranian Yeltsin will stand up on a tank and prove that innocent protestors did not die in vain.
Visit the extended post to read the full version of the discussed article.
Continue reading "Iran: Desperately Seeking Yeltsin" »
Fans grieve Jackson’s death in downtown St Petersburg (image from NTV news report)
Today, undoubtedly, the biggest world news is the unexpected death of Michael Jackson, the only true King of Pop. It was night time in Moscow when the news reached Russia, and the sad event dominated the news reports around the country all day long since early morning. All Russian news channels, including the state-owned Rossiya and the First Channel, started their news reports with the details of Michael Jackson’s passing, his career, his visits to Russia, and tribute of his fans around the world and in Russian cities. Many finished the news with a “no comment” music video tribute to the singer. Gazeta.ru wrote that “only a lazy paralyzed person didn’t throw a rock at the idol in the last few years,” however they agreed that his death brought out the true feeling about the star in Russia and around the globe: unreserved love and admiration.
Among many Russian leaders, the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov said “I deeply grieve with the musician's relatives, friends, and fans because of the untimely passing of the outstanding man, unmatchable singer Michael Jackson, whose death ends the entire epoch of the world music culture.”
Michael Jackson was a household name in the countries of the former Soviet Union. During his visits to Moscow in 1993 and 1996, he was greeted as a head of state. Radio Free Europe writes that “his live concert in Moscow in 1993 sparked near-hysteria among scores of Russians hungry for a taste of Western culture.” One of my brightest personal memories from the Nineties is attending Jackson’s History Tour concert at the Dynamo stadium in Moscow in 1996. Today, hundreds of fans laid flowers and toys near the American Embassy in Moscow and in downtown St Petersburg to honor the idol. We all deeply grieve the untimely passing of the musician who influenced our lives and cultures.
View the extended post for additional images
Continue reading "Michael Jackson Deeply Mourned in Russia" »
Russian health official checking passengers’ body temperature onboard a flight from Atlanta to Moscow upon its arrival in Russia.
The World Health Organization announced that the pandemic of swine flu (H1N1 influenza) is unstoppable; but so thought Napoleon and Hitler about their offensives against Russia… "The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," said WHO's director-general, Margaret Chan, “further spread [of H1N1] is inevitable.” Russian border and health officials think differently. If you are flying from the United States to Russia (as I did just two days ago), be prepared to fill out a form with your basic personal information and list all the geographic locations you visited in 10 days prior to your arrival to Russia.
While in flight, we were informed that no one would be able to leave the plane until Russian health officials checked everyone’s body temperature! If a single passenger had high body temperature, all of the passengers would have been put into quarantine until the doctors found out the origin of the disease onboard. A long flight and free servings of wine produced multiple jokes about the way our body temperatures would be checked.
However, upon the landing, we were truly concerned: How long would it take to check the body temperature of over 200 passengers onboard the Boeing 767 airliner? We expected to see people in white uniforms with a lot of little appliances taking an hour to complete the testing. Our suspense expectations were crushed when a young gentleman in casual clothes (in the picture) went around with a Star Trek tricorder-looking device, pointing it at everyone from far away. Upon exiting the plane, there were half a dozen officials to collect our forms. The temperature testing of the entire plane took less than five minutes. Coincidental or not, but only three swine flu cases so far have been confirmed in Russia.
Iranian protesters confronted by basij militias on the streets of Tehran
Over at Discovery Blog, Ambassador Bruce Chapman is writing about the current upheaval of popular discontent against the Islamic Republic regime in Iran. Nearly three years ago, Discovery Institute hosted Amir Abbas Fakhravar at its Seattle offices. Mr. Fakhravar is a former head of the Iran Student Confederation who was previously jailed and tortured for his opposition to the Islamic Republic regime. You can read Mr. Fakhravar's blog here.
So far, Russian diplomats have maintained a firm "no comment" policy concerning the ongoing power struggle inside Iran. [UPDATE: The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement concerning the post-election revolt today, not over the weekend when this story was written]. But since Russia has already been mentioned in passing in some analysis of the crisis inside Iran, it's worth looking at the facts surrounding the complicated relationship between Tehran and Moscow.
Continue reading "Russia and Iran's Winds of Change" »
A famous photo of a Red Army soldier in World War II
Today is the 68th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. For a roundup of previous Russia Blog posts on Russia's role in winning World War II, click here and scroll down. To watch a Russia Today video on the solemn commemorations that took place across Russia to mark this day, click on the extended post.
Continue reading "Barbarossa: 68 Years On" »
In the Eighties, lots of folks who regarded themselves as true Reaganites often said that The Washington Post should more properly bear the title of "Pravda on the Potomac". Indeed, the paper’s vicious anti-Ronny rhetoric, as well as its views on some other policy issues, were stylistically pretty close to Pravda in its heyday.
Ironically, with the collapse of Communism “Pravda on the Potomac” became a common epithet for The Washington Post not only among the people on the right but on the left and center as well. A recent Google search on this entry provided 13,100 links including articles and sites representing practically the whole spectrum of American politics.
Continue reading "Pravda on the Hudson" »
by Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven is a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.
Over the last several days, two pieces attacking the realist approach to Russia were published in prominent media outlets in the United States and Russia. One, co-authored by Lev Gudkov of the Levada Center, Igor Klyamkin, vice president of the Liberal Mission Foundation, Georgy Satarov, president of the Russian NGO the Indem Foundation and Lilia Shevtsova, a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center was featured on the editorial page of The Washington Post.
[Editor's Note: This article is titled "False Choices for Russia", an excerpt of which was republished on Russia Blog earlier this month in the post "What Can Save Russia's Liberals" by Ambassador Bruce Chapman]. The other, by Andrei Piontkovsky, a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, was released in the Moscow Times.
I read these pieces concerning the moves to improve relations between America and Russia with a profound feeling of depression.
Continue reading "Russia’s Limousine Liberals" »
By Anatoly Karlin
American Enterprise Institute demographer Nicholas Eberstadt's recent article on Russian hypermortality was titled "Drunken Nation"
Editor's Note: This is a succinct summary of the article "Rite of Spring: Russia's Fertility Trends" previously published by Russia Blog on April 29, 2009. To find more articles on Russian demographics, click here.
In 1992, for the first time since the Great Patriotic War, deaths exceeded births, forming the so-called “Russian Cross”. Since then the population fell from 149mn to 142mn souls. Ravaged by AIDS, infertility and alcoholism, Russians are doomed to die out and be replaced by hordes of Islamist fanatics in the West and Chinese settlers in the Far East...or so one could conclude from reading many of the popular stories about Russian demography today.
Continue reading "Through the Looking Glass on Russian Mortality" »
Kendrick White speaking to ICANN, the International Community Organization of Nizhny Novgorod
Editor's Note: This post originally appeared May 4, 2009 on Kendrick White's blog at the Marchmont Capital Partners website (www.marchmontnews.com).
I had such an interesting set of meetings last week. After long preparations and much organizational work, I finally had an opportunity to meet the CFO of a large industrial group with 10 factories spread across Russia.
While I could find little info on this group to prepare myself, one of our partners assured me that this was a very serious group with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales. They made big metal things with lots of electronics inside, nothing secret in their production, but you know, they had really serious owners behind this group “very well connected” as they say.
Continue reading "Compare and Contrast" »
by Philippe Der Megreditchian
Editor's Note: This feature article was originally published on the Marchmont Capital Partners website, www.marchmontnews.com, on May 22, 2009
The recent financial crisis has sharply changed the financing options for mid-market and developing companies as the market balance has been driven from one side of the pendulum to the other. In 2008, cash stockpiles from easy credit and windfalls from high natural resource prices created hungry buyers allowing sellers able to dictate terms unthinkable in more rational times. The sale of a solid mid-market company in a western country would generate dozens of bidders and less attractive businesses still had ample options. Normally cautious and even conservative investors, such as private equity funds had to either invest or return funds to their shareholders, found themselves accepting terms never considered in the past.
Continue reading "Twenty-First Century M&A" »
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Barack Obama (right)
Last week Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), the number two Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, compared President Barack Obama to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an interview with the Associated Press. Cantor did not mean the comparison in a flattering way.
While criticizing the Obama Administration's handling of the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler, Cantor declared:
"They said, 'Set aside the rule of law, let's strip secured creditors, bondholders, of their rights. Take them away outside of the bankruptcy process and give them to the political cronies and the auto workers' unions...it's almost like looking at Putin's Russia...you want to reward your political friends at the expense of the certainty of law?"
Continue reading "Cantor Compares Obama to Putin
Pravda Turns Paleocon Against Bailout USA" »
"Don’t bother pushing the ambiguous Reset Button; just replace the whole operating system." That’s the advice offered President Obama and President Medvedev at the 28th Annual World Russia Forum that took place 27-28 April in Washington. Since 1981 the Forum has been organized by Edward Lozansky’s American University in Moscow (AUM). Of late, Discovery Institute of Seattle, Eurasia Center of Washington, the Congress of Russian Americans, and Aeroflot airlines joined this effort at people’s diplomacy to improve US -Russia relations.
The Forum attracted a powerful array of speakers, such as former US Ambassadors to Russia, Thomas Pickering and William Burns; former National Security Adviser (under President Reagan) Robert McFarlane; and Russia experts professors Marshall Goldman of Harvard and Robert Legvold of Columbia University. The Russian side was represented by Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, Dr. Igor Panarin of the Russian Diplomatic Academy, and Dr. Sergey Rogov, head of the Institute of USA and Canada, among others. (View the photo report).
Continue reading "World Russia Forum 2009
Summary and Assessment" »
Russia Day (June 12, annually) is one of the newest state holidays in the country. It commemorates the 1990 act of endorsement of the Declaration of Russia's State Sovereignty by the first Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. The day was originally known as the Independence Day, but many Russians, who no doubt enjoy federal days off, perceived the word “independence” as an offensive joke, as Russia liberated itself from the territories that originally had been part of the country for hundreds of years.
Since early Nineties, the general public has warmed up to the June 12 holiday, welcoming the opportunity to head to the dachas and catch up on sleep and gardening. The ceremony for presenting the 2008 Russian National Awards for outstanding achievements in science and technology, literature and the arts, and humanitarian work took place at the Grand Kremlin Palace (visit the official Kremlin website to learn more). However, Russia Day will never become as important to the Russian people, as, let’s say, the Fourth of July is to the American nation. The main patriotic holiday remains Victory Day (May 9). Come back to Russia Blog in the nearest future to learn why this military parade and celebration of Russia’s liberation from Nazi Germany and defeat of Fascism are hardly a portrayal of Russia’s military might (as it is often described by the Western press), but truly are celebrations of the country’s independence and the accomplishments of older generations.
View of the Capitol dome in the sunrise from room 902 of the Hart Senate office building.
Due to extended travel I only recently had the chance to go through pictures taken during the World Russia Forum 2009 in Washington D.C. on April 27 and 28. Please enjoy the overdue photo report from the annual event!
Continue reading "World Russia Forum 2009 Photo Report" »
An afternoon at the Moscow's Victory Park (photo by Yuri Mamchur)
Yesterday, The Washington Post published Mr. Lev Gudkov’s article “False Choices For Russia” (see below). This article is more an attitude than a program. It doesn’t really say what Russians or Americans should do to promote “democracy” in Russia. But I have an idea for the Russians: the liberal parties and politicians should stop fracturing and running assorted parties and come together in one party with one agenda that has a chance of actually getting people elected to office. Sitting on the outside with a tiny percentage of the vote split several ways--and then whining about it--is not the pathway to success.
Even in the United States no one listens to the little parties. A liberal national party with a chance of success would have to have a combination of groups and interests, some willingness to compose differences among them and then a clear reform agenda that had appeal to the common man and woman. Then they would have a chance of success.
Read the previous Russia Blog article about the issue and read the original article in the extended post.
Continue reading "What Can Save Russia's Liberals?" »
Last week President Dmitry Medvedev formed a government commission on analyzing and suppressing falsifications of history to the detriment of Russia. Some have rushed to portray this move as an “Orwellian Truth Commission” dedicated to official propaganda of the historical facts that fit the government’s interpretation of history. Indeed, one may be tempted to form such a conclusion simply by looking at the commission’s appointees. What is Medvedev likely to accomplish by forming this commission? Is this the right way to approach this issue, or are there more subtle ways to deal with the problem? -- Dr. Vladimir Frolov
One should wait, of course, for the commission to undertake some specific actions before criticizing it, but knowing how bureaucracy works, one could safely assume with high probability that whoever came up with the idea to create a “Commission on Analyzing and Suppressing Falsifications of History Detrimental to Russia” did not do a good service to his country or to president Medvedev, for that matter. Leaving aside its dubious name, this commission will do more in creating controversy than in helping Russia to withstand the information warfare conducted by its foes. Instead of taking a high road and leaving the word battles to historians and experts, the Kremlin set itself on a par with those ill-wishers who try to use history for political purposes at the pundit or state level.
Continue reading "Russia's Orwellian Truth Commission" »
“Those who went to Sparrow Hills this morning to stir up the trouble were simply wasting their energy. The world’s biggest gay parade took place right here, at the Olympiysky [stadium in Moscow]” said Andrey Rybak, the 2009 Eurovision’s winner, a Norwegian by passport and a Belarusian by birth.
I was in Moscow to witness the Eurovision the first two weeks of May, this year’s most exciting European music event. The annual contest continues a tradition launched in 1956. It brought ABBA to light, along with many other talented (and not so talented) performers. The winning country gets to host the event, and last year’s winning performance by Russia’s Dima Bilan brought the festival to Moscow this month. Russia seemed to treat the occasion as a rehearsal for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, pouring a staggering $150 million into the song contest, and, according to all 42 voting countries, setting the bar so high, that no other European country can rival it for years to come.
Three interesting observations came to my mind after witnessing the glamorous event in person: the sexual orientation of its participants, the event’s coverage in the Western media, and the lingual diversity (or lack thereof) among the participating countries.
Continue reading "World’s Biggest Gay Parade… in Moscow!" »
Russia Today, a 24/7 news network and website inspired by Al-Jazeera that was launched in 2005 to tell Russia's story to the world in the English language, has recently remodeled its main web page. In addition to the complete change of website layout, RT added several bloggers to its stable of writers, including an American from Virginia named Doug Wead. This is an interesting development, because Mr. Wead brings a "compassionate conservative" Republican voice to an otherwise apolitical or left-leaning collection of bloggers.
In the past, Russia Today has been criticized in the Western media for allegedly being too pro-Kremlin in its reporting and commentary. Russia Today features a commentary show and blog by Peter Lavelle, an American who has lived in Russia since the early Nineties who also contributes his commentary to Radio Free Europe/Liberty. Mr. Lavelle has been harshly critical of U.S. foreign and economic policies, which he blames for triggering the current global financial meltdown and the Georgia War that left hundreds of civilians dead last August.
Continue reading "Russia Today Goes John Galt
RT Hosts Tea Partying Blogger" »
Michael Averko addressing the guests of the World Russia Forum in Washington D.C.
Last month's parliamentary election and political demonstration in Moldova led to greater attention focused on that country. A few relatively high placed articles on the subject have been followed up on.
Appearing shortly before the vote and protest, Vlad Spanu's March 20 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) commentary "Backroom Deals Can't Solve Transdniester Dispute" acknowledges the popularity of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in Moldova, where they have respectively run 1-2 in popularity among politicians worldwide. This point relates to the simultaneous desires of wanting good relations with the West, without being so against Russia and its leadership.
Continue reading "Follow-up on the Former Moldavian SSR Commentary" »
After a brief break in posting new articles, we’re back to offer you unique and exciting commentary on Russia’s politics, economy, and culture. Russia Blog proudly notes that since 2005 we have published over 1,000 original posts and 7,000 original reader comments. We sincerely welcome your readership and your financial support. Thank you for reading us all these years!
- The Editors
This week at Russia Blog: world’s biggest gay parade… in Moscow; commentary on the opposition in Moldova; a photo essay of the recent World Russia Forum in Washington D.C., coverage of Moscow’s 2009 Victory Day Parade, and much more.
By E. Wayne Merry
This article originally appeared in The New York Times. E. Wayne Merry was a speaker at the World Russia Forum which was recently held in Washington, D.C. by Discovery Institute and the American University in Moscow.
The Obama administration has offered to “reset” relations with Russia. But what is really needed is a change of operating system.
A reset seeks to restore a previous relationship, which for former officials of the Clinton administration now back in office means the Yeltsin years. This will fail because Moscow views that period as emblematic of Russian weakness and exploitation by the West, and especially by the United States.
Relations with Moscow deteriorated under both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The U.S. neo-liberal project of the ’90s not only failed but deeply alienated Russians. The bilateral nadir was the Kosovo war, a worse episode than last year’s Georgia conflict. A new opportunity after 9/11 was frankly squandered. Washington regarded Russia as a loser and treated it as such. It forgot that Russia would not be weak forever, and would remember.
Continue reading "A ‘Reset’ Is Not Enough " »
This article originally appeared in The Washington Times
Only a couple of short months after the United States and Russia exchanged encouraging remarks about resetting troubled relations, the two countries find themselves again at odds over Georgia. Last week, NATO began monthlong military exercises in Georgia that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called an "open provocation."
It's unfortunate that these current NATO exercises have the capacity to disrupt much broader strategic interests that the United States and Russia have in common, most notably the mutual fight against al Qaeda. At stake are strong U.S.-Russian cooperative efforts in defeating al Qaeda and stopping its encroachment into the Central Asian and Caucasus regions.
Continue reading "Is NATO Disrupting Russia 'Reset'?" »
Russian troops entering South Ossetia last year after a Georgian offensive to retake the secessionist territory was repulsed by Russia.
The Russia-Georgia War in August 2008 has seriously exacerbated Russia’s already damaged relationships with the West. If the Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, had won last November’s election in the United States, the two countries might have moved to the next level of confrontation – possibly of a military nature.
Few people in the U.S. political class have been more ardent in advocating U.S. ties with the small Georgia at the expense of relations with Russia. Some of McCain’s advisers are also known to have worked as paid lobbyists for Georgia’s membership in NATO. Clearly they are not concerned that, had Georgia been a member of the alliance when the violence erupted in South Ossetia, the United States would have been in a state of war with Russia.
Continue reading "Preventing a New Crimean War" »
The new U.S.-Russia arms race...bailouts and printing money?
In its May 2009 issue The Atlantic Monthly published an article featuring the provocative title, "Is the U.S. Becoming Russia?". The author, Simon Johnson, is an academic economist at MIT's Sloan School of Management and former director of the International Monetary Fund from 2007 to 2008. Prof. Johnson is intimately familiar with inner the workings of the IMF, the same Washington-based multinational agency that once extended billions in loans to Russia when Russians experienced hyperinflation and a banking system collapse in the 1990s. Regardless of whether one agrees with Johnson's thesis -- that the U.S. is rapidly starting to resemble the emerging market economies, such as Russia, that it once advised -- his article is well worth a good read.
Continue reading "The Atlantic Monthly Asks:
"Is the U.S. Becoming Russia?"" »
Workers protest a crisis-shortened four day work week and pay cuts at a Ford plant in Russia (Photo by: The St. Petersburg Times)
In case you hadn't noticed, Russia's culture, whether the subject is politics or business, doesn't always mesh as nicely with the traditions of the West as one might suppose. The recent arrests of gay rights demonstrators in Moscow--they say they were denied any kind of demonstration permit--illustrate a continuing difference in traditions of free speech on public issues. Regardless of their stance on any given issue, such as gay rights, almost all Americans and Europeans support the right to peaceful protest. In the economic realm, the same is true. However, in the case of a demonstration in Russia against Ford Motor Co., there was no official objection to the protest demonstration, but one does wonder what really was being protested.
In the U.S., it is commonplace for companies under financial pressure to cut back employment or, in certain circumstances, to reduce the work week in order to conform to production reductions. If the company lacks orders for cars, it can't afford to build them, can it? But the work week cut still must seem novel to Russians who are more used to a general social contract that accepts low wages in return for security. In the old days of the U.S.S.R., companies just kept making products, often regardless of market acceptance. It was one reason socialism failed.
Continue reading "Anti-Ford Demonstration Shows Culture Clash" »
William Burns, U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs, addressing the World Russia Forum
William J. Burns
Under Secretary for Political Affairs
Washington, DC
April 27, 2009
Remarks As Delivered
I'm delighted to be here today. I want to thank Ed Lozansky for organizing this very timely forum.
The joint declaration issued by President Obama and President Medvedev at their first meeting in London on April 1 reaffirmed that Washington and Moscow share common definitions for many of the threats and opportunities that we see in the world today. The declaration recognized that more unites us than divides us. And it reflected the commitment of both Presidents to move beyond Cold War mentalities and to chart a new course in relations between our countries. The task is now to translate that sentiment into actual achievements as we look ahead to a July summit in Moscow.
Continue reading "U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns
Remarks to the 2009 World Russia Forum" »
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