Month: May 2007

May 30, 2007

The Beslan Amnesties

Yesterday a local court in Beslan, Russia, granted amnesty to three policemen who had stood trial for criminal negligence in their handling of the 2004 school hostage crisis, opening up old wounds of what is indisputably the most reprehensible ter...
May 30, 2007

Grigory Pasko: Fools and Roads, Part II

Russia: Fools and Roads, Part II By Grigory Pasko, journalist [Editor note: As mentioned earlier, our regular contributor Grigory Pasko actually managed to get into the city of Samara during the recent EU-Russia summit held there, and has already ...
May 30, 2007

Event: Rule of Law and Russia at Stanford

Today I have the honor of giving a talk at Stanford Law School’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. If any of my blog readers are in the Bay Area, I invite you to come out and see the speech (sorry for the late notice). Th...
May 29, 2007

Raiffeisen’s Ties to Murder and Corruption in Russia

Yesterday I read with great interest the news of the Austrian Prosecutor’s investigation into transactions made between Diskont Bank in Russia and Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) of Austria. Given both the timing of this disclosure and the fact...
May 29, 2007

Journalists of the World Gather in Russia

This week the International Federation of Journalists is holding its 2007 World Congress in Moscow, an event which is known as the largest global gathering of international journalists. The week-long Congress kicked off with the presentation of a ...
May 29, 2007

The Merchandising of Russian Populism

There’s an amusing story in the Journal today about one of Russia’s best-selling vodka brands, Putinka, which has largely seen a surge in its market share thanks to the similarity to the president’s name. This technique of mercha...
May 29, 2007

Nord Stream is a Geopolitical Disaster for the EU

Yesterday, this letter to the editor from the Polish Defense Minister and two academics was published by the FT: From Mr Radek Sikorski, Mr Maciej Olex-Szczytowski and Mr Jacek Rostowski. Sir, European Union solidarity was excellently, if belatedl...
May 28, 2007

Jim Hoagland: Post-Cold War Conflicting Narratives

This weekend Jim Hoagland of the Washington Post gives his take on the conflicting historical narratives used by both the West and Russia to push their interests. In the past, RA has blogged about Russia’s victim narrative. Much of the grief...
May 28, 2007

Russia’s Cynicism toward Law

Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times gives a week in review take on the UK-Russia extradition drama. Art by Paul Rogers Excerpt: In Mr. Putin’s seven years as president, a Soviet-style cynicism about the law has returned, one in which justice, l...