On-line Intelligence Bulletin of the European Press Agency
By Nina Bachkatov and Andrew Wilson
As Vladimir Putin enters his fourth presidential mandate, the question is “What will Vladimir IV be like?”. Part of the answer emerged from his body language and the 7 May ritual. The contrast with 2012 was striking. Continue reading “Putin for ever”
By Andrew Wilson
Poutine – L’homme que l’Occident aime haïr, Nina Bachkatov, éditions Jourdan, Bruxelles-Paris, 2018.
Under a provocative title – The man the West loves to hate – Nina Bachkatov’s book covers more than the Russian president’s personality. In 199 pages it describes in detail the complex evolution of the post-Soviet state under his leadership – a process that she has followed at close quarters for more than thirty years. Continue reading “Book review: “Poutine, l’homme que l’Occident aime haïr””
By Nina Bachkatov and Andrew Wilson
The meeting between presidents Macron and Putin was a demonstration of cultural diplomacy at its best. Culture and history provided a key background to this first meeting between the presidents of two countries whose diplomatic relations had suffer of the general Western distaste towards Putin’s Russia. Continue reading “Moscow-Versailles”
By Nina Bachkatov and Andrew Wilson
Since late 2016, questions have raised about the way Putin’s Russia can, or cannot, mark the dual centenaries of the February and October revolutions. The need for caution is all too obvious. The history of the Revolution “that shocked the world” has never been simply a matter for historians – in the West, just as in the communist world. Continue reading “1917 – A problematic celebration”
Everyone loses: The Ukraine crisis and the ruinous contest for post-Soviet Eurasia, by Samuel Charap and Timothy J.Colton. International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Recently rewed fighting between rebel and government forces in eastern Ukraine calls attention to the costs for all parties of their struggle for control of the territory. Samuel Charap is a Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the IISS. Timothy Colton a Professor of Government and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. In their extensive and generally impartial appraisal, it helps to pick out examples. Continue reading “About the Ukraine crisis: everyone loses”
by Nina Bachkatov
August 2016 is gone, with numerous references to the 25th anniversary of the putsch of 1991 and other critical events, all in the month of August, that still weight on Russian internal and international policies. Continue reading “Fateful August: four dates that still matter”