Section: The American Interest (USA)
Burning Down The Lubyanka
The Russian performance artist Petr Pavlensky, who set fire to the entrance of the infamous FSB building in Lubyanka Square in Moscow, was found guilty and convicted to a half million ruble fine ($7,600) by a Moscow court this past week. Pavlensky had spent seven months under arrest after he burned the door of the building which has long been the...
Mr. Juncker Goes to Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who despite his best efforts has continued to be somewhat of an international pariah since his annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine, might be getting a start on his rehabilitation program. Of course, he is not giving Crimea back to Ukraine or withdrawing weapons and soldiers from Donbas. Rather, he is...
Europe Gets Religion, Again
It was a sunny spring afternoon when the Vatican’s vintage, dove-white Alitalia plane landed smoothly on the island of Lesvos. Marching down the steps to the tune of a Greek military band, Pope Francis was received by the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, and Ieronymos, Archbishop of Athens—and also by Greece’s devoutly...
Russia’s Spy-Swapping Obsession
When Eston Kohver, an officer with Estonia’s security police KAPO, was detained by Russian FSB agents two years ago and charged with espionage, the outside world was stunned. According to evidence presented by KAPO, the FSB agents had simply seized Kohver from Estonia’s side of the two countries’ shared border. But...
The ‘Emperor’ Has No Clothes
A sanctioned friend of Vladimir Putin, the businessman Arkady Rotenberg, has frozen construction on the Kerch channel bridge, due to a lack of financing. Forbes Russia reports the contracting company, Rotenberg’s Stroygazmontazh, did not received a scheduled money transfer from the budget and doesn’t have the capital to continue...
In Putin’s Russia, History is Subversive
Over the past two years, as the Kremlin has annexed Crimea, waged a war of aggression against Ukraine, intervened in Syria, and otherwise threatened Euro-Atlantic security, the situation inside Russia has deteriorated. President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarianism has intensified.Putin’s reputation as a champion against a supposedly...
The Kremlin Comes Around. A Little.
Russia eased its food embargo on the U.S., EU, Canada, Australia, Ukraine, and several other countries yesterday, lifting its ban on the import of products used exclusively for baby food production. The green-lighted items include chicken, frozen veal, and dried or frozen legumes. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has yet to develop regulations...
Religious Hybrids
Religion scholars use the term “hybrids” for groups that put together their faith and practice by taking bits and pieces from previous religious traditions. If one wants a suggestive picture, think of a child assembling a little house by taking Lego pieces from several boxes. A synonym for “hybridization” is “syncretism,” though that term has a...
Beijing To Take a Bite Out of Rosneft?
Speaking at the 13th annual meeting of the China-Russia Commission for Energy Cooperation that took place on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Russia would welcome Chinese investment in its energy sector. The chairman of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Wang Yilin responded in a subsequent interview that his firm...
“Putin is a Local Bully With Nuclear Weapons”
Stanislav Belkovsky is one of the most outspoken and controversial political experts in modern Russia. He is the author of 12 books, including Vladimir Putin’s Business (2006), where he estimated Putin’s fortune to be $40 billion at the time of publication. In 2004, he was a political advisor to the Ukrainian opposition, and he...
