Russia’s Economic Crisis and U.S.-Russia Relations: Troubled Times Ahead

Posted by Matt in November 2nd, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Defense Spending, Dissatisfaction, Economic Crisis, kremlin, Poverty Line, Protests, Public Displays, putin, Reported Event, Riot Police, Russia Relations, Russian Leadership, Safety Net, Social Safety, Social Tensions, Social Unrest, Swat Teams, Troubled Times, Vladivostok, Willingness

Rising Unemployment and Growing Social Unrest
The crisis has also exacerbated social tensions in Russia. So far, no serious threat to the regime has materialized, despite a wave of spontaneous strikes and the use of SWAT teams to put down a demonstration in Vladivostok. Notably, the Russian leadership showed the limits to its tolerance of public [...]

Russia Defends Stalin’s Deal with Hitler

Posted by Matt in August 20th, 2009 | no comment

Published in History, Democratic Constitution, Democratic Legitimacy, Eastern Europe, History Text Books, Hitler And Stalin, Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, Moral Damage, News Russia, Opinion Surveys, Public Opinion, Reputation, Russian History, Russian Leadership, Russians, Ryzhkov, Sympathy, Voa News

Ryzhkov asks why today’s Russia, which has a democratic constitution and new democratic legitimacy, should justify the division of Europe between Hitler and Stalin.
He says that this view is now included in Russian history text books and has caused “enormous moral damage” to Russia’s reputation, particularly in the countries of Eastern Europe that were the [...]

Turkey and Russia on the Rise

Posted by Matt in March 17th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Russia, Turkey, Abdullah Gul, Bhalla, Birthrate, Catastrophic Impact, Chechens, Coming Of Age, Demographic Time Bomb, Distant Future, Dmitri Medvedev, Eff, Fates, Gas Crisis, Geographic Barriers, Goodrich, Government Estimates, Heroin Abuse, Hispanics In The United States, Intelligence Services, Latter Problem, Legions, Moscow Region, Multiethnic, Muslim Faith, Plunge, Reva, Russia Russia, Russian Government, Russian Language, Russian Leadership, Russian Minorities, Russian Population, Russian President, Russians, Security Problem, Soviet Collapse, Soviet Empire, Turkish Counterpart, War Children, Western Influence

Here are a couple of interesting paragraphs about Russia:
Russia faces a hard-wired demographic time bomb. Put simply, Russia is an ascending power in the short run, but it is a declining power in the long run.
The Russian leadership is well aware of this coming crisis, and knows it is going to need every scrap of [...]

Russia challenges west with nuclear overhaul

Posted by Matt in October 6th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Nuclear, Russia, U.S., War, West, Collapse Of The Soviet Union, Defence Analyst, guardian, moscow, NATO, Nuclear Overhaul, Nuclear War, Pavel Felgenhauer, Russia, Russian Leadership, Russian Military

“This is very significant. Right now the present Russian leadership believes that a war with Nato is very much possible,” Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based defence analyst, told the Guardian. “This is the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that the Russian military is actually preparing for an all-out nuclear war with America.”
Read [...]

What Is Russia Afraid Of?

Posted by Matt in August 19th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Russia, West, Arrogance, Baltic States, Elections, Fear, Freedom, Nationalism, Open Hostility, Orange Revolution, Regimes, Revolutions, Russia, Russian Leadership, Russian State, Street Demonstrations, Ukraine

The spread of freedom and the West standing up to it.
The Russian state’s open hostility, not only toward Georgia but also toward Ukraine and the Baltic states, is, in this sense, partly ideological. Genuine elections have taken place in all these countries; people who have not been preselected by the ruling oligarchy sometimes gain wealth [...]