Moscow Patriarch Attacks Humanism and Human Rights as ‘Global Heresies’
Paul Goble Staunton, March 21 – Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church has never been a supporter of humanism and human rights, but now in the sharpest terms yet he has denounced...
View ArticlePutin Now Offers a ‘Hybrid’ Peace in Syria, Moscow Commentator Says
Paul Goble Staunton, March 22 – Vladimir Putin, having popularized the concept of “a hybrid war” in Ukraine, is now pursuing “a hybrid peace” in Syria, one in which he is given credit for...
View ArticleStalin’s Exploitation of Orthodoxy in Late 1940s Informs Moscow’s Strategy Today
Paul Goble Staunton, March 22 – It is now a commonplace that Vladimir Putin is reviving many aspects of Stalinism, but it is important to focus on the specifics of this trend -- and one of...
View ArticleUzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan on Brink of Real Border War
Paul Goble Staunton, March 22 – Both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have moved their military forces up to their common border in the Fergana valley, the latest escalation of longstanding...
View Article40 Percent More Protests Took Place in Russia in 2015 than the Year Before...
Paul Goble Staunton, March 22 – In 2015, there were 409 protest actions in the Russian Federation, 40 percent more than a year earlier. But few of them received much attention in the...
View ArticleThe 27 Other Savchenkos Must Not be Forgotten
Paul Goble Staunton, March 22 – The gross miscarriage of justice in the case of Nadiya Savchenko has sparked outrage among people of good will around the world, but it would be a tragedy if...
View ArticleCould Courts in Non-Russian Republics Undercut Putin’s Power Vertical and...
Paul Goble Staunton, March 23 – A decision by a Kabardino-Balkarian court to allow Circassians with Turkish passports to remain there despite earlier Russian efforts to expel them and a call...
View ArticleNumerically Small Peoples of the North an Ever Bigger Problem for Moscow
Paul Goble Staunton, March 23 – When people in Moscow or the West talk about “nationality problems” in Russia, they typically focus on ethnic groups which, because of their large size,...
View ArticleTatarstan’s Efforts to Help Gagauz De-Russify Outrage Some in Moscow
Paul Goble Staunton, March 23 – In an article entitled “Incompetence or Betrayal? Gagauzia Learns to De-Russify from Tatarstan,” Ivan Shilov calls attention to and expresses outrage over the...
View ArticleRussian Extreme Right May Soon Start Talking about a ‘Muslim-Masonic Conspiracy’
Paul Goble Staunton, March 23 – No one who has followed the writings of the Russian extreme right either in the first years of the 20th century or in the last 25 will have been able to avoid...
View ArticleMoscow Losing Ideological War against Islamists, Russian Experts Say
Paul Goble Staunton, March 23 – Moscow has been relatively successful in fighting Islamist radicalism by the use of force, but it has been much less so in the ideological sphere, often...
View ArticleProtestants One of the Most Pro-Ukrainian Groups in the Donbas
Paul Goble Staunton, March 24 – Moscow commentators have focused on what they view as the anti-Russian activities of the Kyiv Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Uniates,...
View ArticleZhirinovsky’s Suggestion that Buryats Aren’t a Distinct Nation Echoes in the...
Paul Goble Staunton, March 24 – Two weeks ago, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the flamboyant leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, declared that the Buryats are not a separate nationality but...
View ArticleMoscow Expanding Its Cyber War Against Ukraine
Paul Goble Staunton, March 24 – Increasing cyberattacks against strategic objects in Ukraine are part of Russia’s hybrid war against that country, its security services warn; and Kyiv is...
View ArticleMoscow Patriarchate’s Church-Building Program Generating Anti-Clericalism...
Paul Goble Staunton, March 24 – Even as many are expressing concerns about the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate on the Russian state, viewing it as a threat to the...
View ArticleMass Arrest of Imams Trained Abroad in Tajikistan Likely to Backfire
Paul Goble Staunton, March 24 – The Tajik militia have arrested approximately 20 imams in the northern portion of Tajikistan for administrative violations and detained them for 15 days; but...
View ArticleA Baker’s Dozen of Neglected Russian Stories – No. 25
Paul GobleStaunton, March 25 -- 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’s Reaction to Brussels Attack Highlights Growing Gulf between Russia...
Paul Goble Staunton, March 25 – Almost no Russian official or pro-Kremlin commentator limited himself to expressions of sympathy in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Igor...
View ArticleMoscow Losing Control over Institutions It Set Up to Control Muslims
Paul Goble Staunton, March 25 – The decision of Ingushetia head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov to “liquidate” his republic’s Muslim spiritual directorate (MSD) calls attention to a much broader and more...
View ArticleIs Moscow about to Recreate a Nationalities Ministry?
Paul Goble Staunton, March 25 – Duma members said this week that they would like to transform the Federal Agency for Nationality Affairs into a ministry for nationality affairs “with...
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