Tag Archives: putin

The curious art of questions

Posted on June 29, 2015 by

In political science, there are some questions not worth asking. These typically begin with “what if”, or take the form of “what does [insert name] really think about [insert issue]”. When Yevgeny Primakov, Russia’s former Prime Minister and Boris Yeltsin’s … Continue reading →

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The A. B. C. lies

Posted on May 31, 2015 by

Despite their sky-high ratings and recent attempts to consolidate the political status quo, the Russian president and the government do not behave like the firm and confident authority whose image they try to project to the world. On the contrary: they show … Continue reading →

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A rebalancing act

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

Vladimir Putin’s annual televised Q&A session last week revealed more about the present state of affairs in Russia and Putinism in general than it was obvious at first sight. The Russian president has made several moves suggesting that he wants … Continue reading →

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An obituary

Posted on March 17, 2015 by

Yes, I read the news today. Vladimir Putin is alive and seemingly well. His handshake is firm, judging from the expression on the face of the president of Kyrgyzstan, and he may even have driven the car between two places … Continue reading →

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The bonfire of rationality

Posted on February 28, 2015 by

Yesterday I was going to post a long and detailed entry about Vladimir Putin’s priority list. About the way priorities were exposed during times of crisis and scarcity. I was going to draw a comparison with my college days in … Continue reading →

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A tale of two choices

Posted on January 29, 2015 by

Oil prices tumble, the Russian economy is in recession, the Russian elite is nervous, but Vladimir Putin is smart enough to avoid the traps that the Soviet Union fell into – in a nutshell, this is the argument of Richard … Continue reading →

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Europe’s game – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

In the previous entry, I argued that Europe had to push forward with sanctions on Russia, despite the imminent threat of a Russian economic crisis. However, Europe’s game does not end here. It has to carefully observe the movements within the … Continue reading →

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