Section: Intersection (EU)
“Digital disease” and the cure for it
Economy One notable event during the recent international economic forum in Saint Petersburg has been observed, but not analyzed in detail. As Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov revealed, on one evening Vladimir Putin talked with members of the government long into the night, discussing “only new technologies and the digital economy.” This vigil...
A sober view of the Putin-Trump “Bromance”
Russia / World International political commentary is full of exaggerated reactions to President Trump and President Putin’s recent meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg. Often “victory” is attributed to Putin. Assessments vary between claims that Putin and Trump are back on their “bromance” or that both achieved what they...
A Careless Tax on Tourists
Economy Starting from 2018, there will be a new tax in Russia, applied experimentally in just four regions: the annexed Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol. This so-called tourist tax is an idea Putin shared last year with the government, which as usual started to implement the head of state’s initiative without checking whether it was...
Налог на отдых
Economy С 2018 года в России появится новый налог, взимать который в качестве эксперимента пока будут только в четырех регионах – в аннексированном Крыму, Алтайском крае, Краснодарском крае и Ставропольском крае. Речь идет о так называемом курортном сборе, идею которого Владимир Путин еще в прошлом году подкинул правительству, а то по привычке...
The new antiquity versus the new Middle Ages
Politics The “new Middle Ages” has been a common term for referring to Russia’s present and near future since the publication of Day of the Oprichnik in 2006. The publication of Telluria in 2013 and the 2014 release of “Hard to be a God”, a dystopian film directed by Aleksei German, brought this medieval analogy to wider attention. A plot...
‘The Putin Interviews’ and the Kremlin’s Useful Idiot
Russia / World Oliver Stone just filmed another tribute to another dictator. Previous main parts of Stone documentaries have gone to Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Yasser Arafat and others. This time it is Vladimir Putin in the leading role. The 4-hour relationship between Putin and Stone seems to unfold smoothly on the screen. In general, there...
The Forgotten Holocaust
Society A few years ago, two Russian teenagers appeared on a Russian TV show and, when asked about the Holocaust, guessed that it was wallpaper glue. After the ensuing handwringing in the media subsided, the journalist Mumin Shakirov took the young women on a visit to Auschwitz. He made a moving documentary depicting how the young women, who are...
Post-Soviet excesses: What does the diplomatic scandal between Russia and Moldova tell us?
Russia / Europe When the Moldovan government declared five Russian diplomats persona non grata, it came as a complete surprise to most observers, especially outside the country. First of all, five people were expelled at once; even Estonia, with its traditionally bad relations with Russia, has recently expelled only two Russian consulate staff....
The logic of the Kremlin Gate
Russia / World Russia was accused of hacking the Democratic Party’s servers in a summer 2016 scandal and the Trump Team was consequently rumored to enjoy close ties with Moscow. The attempted coup in Montenegro, attempts to discredit Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign in France and the threat of potential interference in the...
Congress Pushes Tougher Line on Russia
On May 5th, US President Donald Trump signed H.R. 244, his first major piece of legislation since taking office. Also known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2017, this legislation effectively funds the US government effective till September. It did not come from Trump’s budget proposals, but rather from a series of Congressional...
