A Ukrainian flag in the streets of Mitte, Berlin’s central borough. Photo by Felipe Tofani/Wikimedia Commons. A few words about myself by way of introduction. Until recently, I taught politics at the Université du Québec à Montréal, specializing in the USSR and its former member states. A socialist, I was
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Canadian Dimension: Next to starting a war, the worst thing is to keep it going
Soldiers from the 53rd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, currently deployed in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Photo courtesy the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/Twitter. The complex nature of the war in Ukraine, and especially of the question of the relative responsibility of the different parties, has made difficult the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Understanding Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marches on Tverskaya Street, Moscow, March 26, 2017. Photo by Evgeny Feldman/Wikimedia Commons. To understand Aleksei Naval’nyi’s significance for Russia, one needs some idea of the nature of the political regime. This is a ‘Bonapartist’-type regime, in which the state administration, and proximity to it,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: They Dared: The Legacy of the October Revolution
Soviet poster dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the October Revolution and IV Congress of the Communist International A hundred years later, the question of the historical legacy of the October Revolution is not an easy one for socialists, given that Stalinism took root within less than a decade after
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Understanding the civil war in Ukraine
The Ukrainian conflict, like most political phenomena, is multi-dimensional and highly complex. As such, it calls for a holistic – dialectical, if you wish – approach. But to judge by American and NATO spokespersons and by their mass media, there is only one really decisive factor that explains everything: Russia’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Ukraine Between ‘Popular Uprising for Democracy’ and ‘Fascist Putsch’
This article was originally published in The Bullet on March 12, 2014. Let’s begin with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s version. One can think what one likes about deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, but his election in 2012 was recognized as legitimate by international observers and, after a certain hesitation, by
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