Russia has many a renowned global export – but none has affirmed its presence quite so forcefully across the globe as the Kalashnikov, assault rifle par excellence.  The Independent ran a brief story on the weekend about Anatoly Isaikin, the head of Russia’s arms trading monopoly Rosoboronexport, and his fears that knock-off Kalashnikovs are besmirching the reputation of the weapon across the globe.  Their use in ‘conflict zones’ is apparently deleterious to the rifle’s image (naturally, a conflict zone is the last place you’d imagine finding a gun).  Today on Reuters we see the weapon’s 90-year-old inventor nostalgic for an era when the gun was of a purer breed and destined for an apparently more noble use.