Section: Intersection (EU)
Russian-speaking Germans: Who are they?
Russia / Europe For many years, residents of West Germany born in the USSR were unofficially labeled “invisible migrants”. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, stories on the “Russian mafia” intially circulated through the German news media, but soon faded from the forefront. The topic of Russians in Germany in the years after unification has...
German Lessons for the Russian World
Russia / Europe The “Russian world” concept, actively promoted one way or another for at least ten years, has virtually become an official ideological doctrine since the annexation of Crimea. It certainly has a whiff of nationalism, and it is no coincidence that even the regime’s staunchest supporters were swift to draw parallels between...
Fresh Sanctions Take Aim at Russia’s Defense Industry
Security At the end of October, United States Department of State produced a list of 33 Russian companies from the country’s defence industry. As of January next year, these companies will be banned from making major transactions with western companies. The list was issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions...
Fresh sanctions against the Russian defense industry
Security Since late January 2018, major transactions (as assessed by the US State Dept.) have been banned with respect to 33 Russian defense industry companies which appear on a list published by the United States Department of State in late October 2017. The list was issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act...
Fresh sanctions against the Russian defense industry
Security Since late January 2018, major transactions (as assessed by the US State Dept.) have been banned with respect to 33 Russian defense industry companies which appear on a list published by the United States Department of State in late October 2017. The list was issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act...
Hazing, Suicides and Unreported Deaths in the Russian Army
Security This October, Russia launched another round of military conscription. Despite upbeat official rhetoric, the news media have recently published a number of alarming stories about soldiers committing suicide. Although the situation has been gradually improving, this brings to light a problem that has afflicted Russia’s armed forces...
Putin’s Foreign Policy Impasse … Until the Elections
Russia / World At this year’s Valdai Discussion Club – a key meeting point for Russia’s foreign policy establishment – there were a number of analysts and journalists expecting something significant from President Vladimir Putin’s keynote speech. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, had set the tone,...
Russia’s Kosovo Fixation
Russia / Europe Backed by the US and the EU, the Serbian government is preparing for reconciliation with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbian authorities wish to accelerate the process of EU integration, which implies a departure from a current policy aimed at hindering the formation of a Kosovan statehood, amongst...
Voting for a candidate who does not exist
Politics The Levada Center recently published results of a survey where respondents were informed that Vladimir Putin supports Andrey Semyonov, a fictitious figure who was supposedly nominated to run as a candidate for the presidency in the 2018 election. Survey respondents were asked whether they had heard of the candidate and whether they were...
Religious terror in modern Russia
Society Following the controversy over Matilda, a film directed by Alexei Uchitel, a radical pseudo-Orthodox movement close to the Church has emerged on the general public’s radar. It is a movement with many nicknames in the news media, most memorably the “Orthodox Taliban” and the “Orthodox ISIS”. State Duma deputy Natalia Poklonskaya, an...
