A cartoon showing Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev looking in dismay at a massive stone hammer and sickle, now shattered into many parts. Illustration by Edmund S. Valtman/Library of Congress. There can be few leaders whose reputation at home differs so widely from his reputation abroad as the last leader of
Continue readingAuthor: Paul Robinson
Canadian Dimension: Putin’s ‘ally’—a case of misreporting
Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin. Photo by Mahdieh Gaforian/Wikimedia Commons. In British reporter Chris Ayres’s memoir War Reporting for Cowards, he describes the arrival briefing he got from the woman he was replacing as New York correspondent of the London Times: “‘Lift and view, Chris, is what we do here …
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Status anxiety and the war in Ukraine
A defaced mural of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Photo by Ana Simic. Years ago, I was an exchange student in the Soviet Union. Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of Britain, and Ronald Reagan president of the United States. The Soviets were fighting a war in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Russia at a turning point?
Photo by Firdaus Omar/Flickr In March of this year, news came from Russia that former Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais had quit his job as presidential special representative for the environment and left the country. With the exception of President Vladimir Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Sergei Kirienko, there is
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