Russia: Other Points of View

Russians Vote, but What if Stalin Wins TV-Run Popularity Contest?

ANDREW OSBORN, Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008

RMW Analysis by Russia: Other Points of View

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article reviewed below distorts the purpose and content of a TV contest and other aspects of current Russian political life in order to portray Russia as a nationalist, even chauvinist state. Whereas the Wall Street Journal properly supports manifestations of American patriotism, any manifestation of Russian patriotism is viewed as dangerous and, at the same time, one artificially induced by the Kremlin for its inevitably nefarious purposes. Nine days before this publication, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announced that an initiative to build a memorial to the victims of Stalin’s purges had received support from the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church [see Oleg Khlebnikov, “U Rossii kompleks? Memorialnyi” (Russia To Have A Complex? A Memorial One), Novaya gazeta, 16 June 2008, www.novayagazeta.ru].

To access the full review, please click here Download WSJ_Osborn_13_June_08.doc

Ukrainian-Russian-Western Triangular Relationship – Under-Reported Aspects

by GORDON HAHN, PhD

It is impossible to discuss Ukraine today without acknowledging its current ethnic schism. The population in Eastern Ukraine (the industrial section), which largely supports opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich, has deep loyalties to their Russian heritage; they are largely ethnic Russian, Russian-speaking, and Russian Orthodox and oppose Ukrainian membership in NATO. Western Ukraine (the agricultural section – and former Polish and Romanian territories), tends to support Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko, is populated largely by ethnic Ukrainians, Ukrainian-language speakers, Ukrainian Orthodox and Uniate Catholic believers and supports NATO membership and joining the West. Today’s NATO expansion risks splitting Ukraine along ethnic and geographical lines and threatens the country’s interethnic comity and political stability.

The Case of Ukraine – a Primer: the U.S., Russia and Tensions in the CIS

by GORDON HAHN, PhD

The former Soviet republics, now loosely tied under the CIS, have moved to the top of the agenda in U.S.-Russian relations. Western media tends to cover these issues from the U.S. perspective. Often coverage lacks important aspects regarding Ukraine and Georgia, the most heatedly contested CIS countries between the U.S. and Russia. Below is an overview of the key issues confronting the U.S. and Russia regarding Ukraine and how Ukraine has developed since the collapse of the USSR.

Russian Skinheads – Russia's Gravest Threat?

by GORDON HAHN, PHD

Reading Western mainstream media’s latest June series, one would think that the issue of Russia’s skinhead attacks on ethnic minorities is one of the world’s most pressing problems. To be sure, the nature of these crimes is heinous.

The Tbilisi Post

by PAUL J. SAUNDERS, www.nationalinterest.org, June 6, 2008

ROPV acknowledges The Nixon Center's, Paul J. Saunders, for questioning the Washington Post re its concentration on the CIS/Georgia issues which are far less relevant than other US or global politics.

If you were running the largest newspaper in the capital city of the world's sole superpower, which foreign-policy issues would you select as your top priorities? The war in Iraq? Terrorism? Nuclear terrorism, something that could change the American way of life forever? Energy policy, which is already severely affecting many Americans' lives? If you don't like these, what about China, India, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East peace process or climate change?

Georgia's Election:Misha's Test

NO AUTHOR, The Economist, May 24-30, 2008

RMW Analysis by Russia:Other Points of View

This editorial from the editors of The Economist maintains the Western mainstream media’s ardent campaign against Russia and for NATO expansion. It is replete with the usual inaccuracies, one-sidedness, and subtle turns of language and illogic directing the reader to the only correct conclusion.

To access the full review, please click here Download Economist_Georgia_24-30_May_08.doc

Railroading Georgia

EDITORIAL, Washington Post, June 4, 2008

RMW Analysis by Russia: Other Points of View

This Washington Post editorial contains the same one-sided perspective on Russia’s conflict with NATO over the latter’s expansion to Georgia and other CIS. However, this article goes further raising the specter of a “Russian militarized imperialism” should the West fail to stand up to Russia’s rather timid actions in Georgia that the editorial characterizes as “aggression.”

To access the full review, please click here Download WP_Editorial_4_June_08.doc

The Case of Georgia – a Primer: the U.S., Russia and Tensions in the CIS

by GORDON HAHN, PhD

The former Soviet republics, now loosely connected under the CIS, have moved to the top of the agenda in U.S.-Russian relations. Western media tends to cover these issues from the U.S. perspective, which often lacks important aspects of the two countries in the CIS perhaps most contested in U.S.-West relations: Georgia and Ukraine. In this second installment, ROPV provides an overview of the key issues confronting U.S. and Russia in Georgia as they have developed since the collapse of the USSR.

It Isn't Magic: Putin's Opponents are Made to Vanish from TV

by CLIFFORD J LEVY, NYT, June 3, 2008

RMW Analysis by Nick Petro

It is nice to know that some foreign correspondents in Russia read the local press. That way they can eventually pick up stories that were covered months ago and present them as something novel that they discovered on their own.

It Isn't Magic: Putin's Opponents are Made to Vanish from TV

by CLIFFORD LEVY, NYT, June 3, 2008

RMW Analysis by Russia: Other Points of View

This New York Times article by Clifford J. Levy is a rehash of an albeit important but already well-known, oft-repeated and old story: that former Russian President Vladimir Putin clamped down on freedom of speech on Russia’s national television channels. This ‘news’ article regards events that occurred either some months or seven years ago.

To access the full review, please click here Download NYT_Levy_3_June_08.doc