Year: 2008

February 5, 2008

Robert Amsterdam Profiled in Canadian Business

Following Robert Amsterdam’s speech at the Economic Club of Toronto last week, there has been some significant media coverage (see the CBC segment regarding Petro-Canada and Gazprom). One of the more extensive pieces covering the speech was ...
February 5, 2008

If It Worked for Putin…

This is actually an old gag, dug up for kicks on Super Tuesday. Daily Kos nailed this last summer, and even ran a poll over which one looked better. At the time of writing, Obama was winning with 64% over 36% for Vlad.
February 5, 2008

Unconstitutional Third Terms

Here’s an amusing parallel tying together a number of world leaders from Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post: “When you Google the phrase “unconstitutional third term,” you get references to a rogue’s gallery of st...
February 5, 2008

What Will Super Tuesday Mean for Russia?

Today is very important day in U.S. politics, which could prove to be definitive in shaping the foreign policies of the next presidency. You can be sure that the Russia is watching very closely – as it is arguably a much more interesting cam...
February 5, 2008

Serbia Tries to Keep Russia at Arms Length

A journalist at Forbes believes that the Serb’s choice of Boris Tadic over the pro-Russia hardliner Tomislav Nikolic will diminish but certainly not eliminate the Kremlin’s control over national politics. However the report states that...
February 5, 2008

The Victory of Self-Criticism

A colleague pointed me toward this post from the Economist from Jan. 31st: SOVIET propagandists during the cold war were trained in a tactic that their western interlocutors nicknamed “whataboutism”. Any criticism of the Soviet Union (Afghanistan,...
February 5, 2008

Energy Blast, Feb. 5, 2008

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and Economic Development and Trade Minister Elvira Nabiullina have been approved as candidates for a new Gazprom board of directors. Kazakhstan has raised its price for shipping gas to Gazprom by 27%. Rosneft a...
February 5, 2008

Today in Russian Business

United Company RusAl will gain a foothold in China’s lucrative aluminum market, after it was reported it would partner with China Power Investment in building a 500,000-ton smelter in western China and a bauxite and alumina complex in Guinea. Arta...
February 5, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Feb. 5, 2008

TODAY: Medvedev outlines his vision for Russia. Vasily Aleksanyan goes on trial, is “nearly blind”. Moscow lawyer applies for political asylum in the US. Putin is in Dagestan, Zubkov is in Armenia. Presidential candidate and Communist Party leader...
February 4, 2008

Russia Goes Back in Time for Military Parade

Remember those bombastic military spectacles the Soviets used to hold on Red Square several times a year to strike fear into every bourgeois heart? Well, they’re back, and they’re bigger and better than ever. As the below article (in o...