Eight Ways Leader Cults Spreading Across Former Soviet Space
Paul Goble Staunton, December 29 – Now that Vladimir Putin’s followers have their own equivalent of Mao Zedong’s little red book, more people are considering that ways in which he and other...
View ArticlePutin Alienating Even Armenia, Kirillova Says
Paul Goble Staunton, December 29 – One of the supposed constants in Eurasia is that Yerevan will support Moscow regardless of what it does because of Armenia’s geopolitical situation, but...
View ArticleRussian Orthodox Church Returning to Soviet-Era Norms, Bychkov Says
Paul Goble Staunton, December 29 – Vladimir Putin’s restoration of Soviet-era norms has hit the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church especially hard, and “the lies, corruption,...
View ArticleApocalypse Soon? What Will Happen to Russia if Oil Falls Below Ten US Dollars...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 29 – The dependence of the Kremlin on the price of oil has long been obvious. A year ago, some wags suggested that if oil prices fell to the level they are now,...
View ArticleIf Lenin had had His Way, the USSR Might Still Exist – But It Would be...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 30 – Ninety-three years ago today, the First Congress of Soviets created the USSR, a state that died just before its 69th birthday. Many in Moscow still regret...
View ArticleMoscow Decision Puts Cossacks on Track toward Becoming a Nation
Paul Goble Staunton, December 30 –Cossack activists have long sought official designation as a separate nationality rather than a stratum or subgroup of the Great-Russian nation, and they...
View ArticleTen Most ‘Enchanting’ Proposals of Russian Politicians in 2015
Paul Goble Staunton, December 30 – Russian officials and politicians have outdone themselves this past year with the often strange ideas they have offered, sometimes without any apparent...
View ArticleAnkara’s Backing of Crimean Tatars Seen Leading to Harder Russian Line...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 30 – Moscow officials are furious that Turkey is showing support for the Crimean Tatars -- especially given that most Western governments have shifted their...
View ArticleKazan Arrests Pro-Moscow Critic under Terms of Russia’s Anti-Extremist Law
Paul Goble Staunton, December 30 – Today, Rais Suleymanov, a Tatar who has sharply criticized Kazan for supposedly assisting the rise of radical Islam in the Middle Volga and for failing to...
View ArticleWhen Crises Become Permanent – Russia vs. Ukraine
Paul Goble Staunton, December 31 – Man is not a pig, Dostoyevsky observed; he can get used to anything. But the process of adapting to something new changes him in ways he may not even be...
View Article20th Century Hasn’t Ended Yet for Russia and Won’t in 2016 Either, Satarov Says
Paul Goble Staunton, December 31 – Many people believe that despite the calendar, the 20th century began in 1914 with the start of World War I, Georgy Satarov says; but if it began then, it...
View ArticlePutin’s Latest Move Seen Putting Russia at Risk of a Second Bloody Sunday...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 31 – Vladimir Putin’s signing into law a measure permitting the FSB to shoot into crowds not only has sparked fears that this represents the rebirth of the KGB...
View ArticleMental Crisis at Home Not Sanctions behind Russia’s Economic Malaise,...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 31 – The loss by members of the Russian elite of a positive model for the future is a more important factor behind the country’s current economic malaise than...
View ArticleBuryat Shamans Predict Radical Changes in 2016 with Improved Conditions in...
Paul Goble Staunton, December 31 – Many who give little thought to predicting the future the rest of the year nonetheless focus on that task at the end of one year and the beginning of the...
View ArticleA Baker’s Dozen of Neglected Russian Stories – No. 17
Paul GobleStaunton, January 1 -- The flood of news stories from a country as large, diverse and strange as the Russian Federation often appears to be is far too large for anyone to keep up with. But...
View ArticleMoscow Will Somehow Find Money for North Caucasus but Not for Other Regions,...
Paul Goble Staunton, January 1 – “The most probable prognosis” for Russia is “stabilization at a lower level: less investment, less production and less consumption,” according to Natalya...
View ArticleAbsent ‘Revolutionary Change,’ Russia’s Population Decline to Accelerate in...
Paul Goble Staunton, January 1 – Unless “revolutionary” steps are taken – something Moscow has shown no taste for given that it has spent less than half as much on boosting s than it did on...
View ArticleWashington Unwittingly Promoting Restoration of USSR, Donbas Politician Says
Paul Goble Staunton, January 1 – Most Russian commentators argue that the United States is doing everything it can not only to break up the former Soviet space by pulling the non-Russian...
View ArticleOfficial Repression of Salafis in North Caucasus Seen Radicalizing Other...
Paul Goble Staunton, January 1 – Although the number of terrorist acts in the North Caucasus fell in 2015, largely because of the departure of radicals to Iraq and Syria, official repression...
View ArticleMoscow Struggling to Coordinate Counter-Terrorist Effort in North Caucasus
Paul Goble Staunton, January 2 – Moscow is finding it increasingly difficult to coordinate the various agencies involved in its counter-terrorist effort in the North Caucasus, and its...
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