In some old Soviet film-fairytale, I think it may have been Ali-Baba, there was a memorable character who played the role of a midnight town crier. Something like a watchman, but one who brought the reassuring news. He walked at night through the city, which was crawling with thieves and bandits, beat a special mallet and proclaimed: «All is quiet in Baghdad…All is quiet in Baghdad».

I recall these scenes whenever I see some Russian official – starting with the chief of the Moscow police and ending with President Medvedev – behaving similarly on the TV screen. They never tire of telling us that in Russia, as a whole, all is quiet, all is quiet, all is quiet… Premier Putin is also fond of the term “stability,” but you get the point. In the meantime, it is enough to look out the window in order to convince oneself that far from all is quiet and not all is stable.