The Victory Day celebrated on May 9 is a hugely important and emotionally loaded holiday for the majority of Russians and Ukrainians, Kazakhs and Uzbeks, whose grandfathers fought together and defeated Nazi Germany back in 1945. In Russia, this solemn Remembrance Day was gradually converted by all-pervasive propaganda into a manifestation of militarism and aggressive… Read more »
Category: Regions and Powers
Thai Elections Mark Declining Public Interest in Nationalism, Patronage Politics
This week’s election results handed a surprising victory to the opposition Move Forward Party. While it remains to be seen if the conservative establishment will allow them to actually take power, the vote signals a turning point in the mindset of the Thai public. The Thai political map is now painted with orange, the colour… Read more »
The Other ‘Peace Process’ on Afghanistan: Geneva Talks 1982-1988
In the past three years, the US government’s role in the Doha Talks (2010-2020) has attracted scrutiny and criticism within the United States and abroad. Starting in November 2010, the Doha Talks was a process of intermittent negotiations between the United States and the Afghan Taliban. The culmination of this process was the Doha Agreement, signed… Read more »
Erdogan Struggles with Securing the Votes of Young People and Women in Turkey’s Fateful Election
In one of Turkey’s most popular soap operas Kizilcik Şerbeti [Cranberry Sorbet] Nursema, a young conservative woman in love with another man, is married off by her family to another against her own wishes. On her wedding night, in an argument with her new husband she is pushed off the balcony. Miraculously surviving, she confronts both… Read more »
Muted V-Day Celebrations in Russia Amid Disastrous War
Victory Day in Russia continues to resonate throughout Russia society, and official propaganda in the past decade has strived to change the meaning of this emotionally charged and solemn day of remembrance into a feast of militarism and jingoism. The slogan “we can do it again” (mozhem povtorit) pervaded loud festivities even during the pandemic-caused… Read more »
Moscow Engulfed by Anxiety About Impending Ukrainian Offensive
Combat operations in the Donbas trenches remain deadlocked, but their diminishing intensity does not signify an impasse in the course of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which continues to evolve on the ground. One notable change has been the cessation of Russian long-distance missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and other civilian targets since the… Read more »
Putin’s Political Bubble Tightens Up
Decision-making in the Kremlin had been so erratic — even before the re-invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 — that the proposition of President Vladimir Putin inhabiting a bubble of servile courtiers and carefully doctored information appeared perfectly plausible. Early April 2023 has brought even more evidence supporting this assumption of detachment from reality… Read more »
It’s Time To Rethink Myanmar’s Ethnic Armed Organizations
As Myanmar’s armed resistance against the February 2021 coup enters its second year, calls for ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), sometimes known as ethnic revolutionary organizations, to unite and bolster ties with the resistance movement grow louder. This sentiment resonates not only among international observers but has also been expressed by the opposition National Unity Government… Read more »
New Decree on Foreign Policy Fails to Hide Russia’s Falsity
On March 31, President Vladimir Putin signed a new decree on Russia’s “Foreign Policy Concept,” an odd document that attempts to combine the Kremlin’s distorted worldview with an inflated perception of Russia’s role in the world, with the goal of beguiling the states of the Global South. The decree presents Russia as a particular “state-civilization”… Read more »
As NATO Gains New Strength, Moscow Resorts to Nuclear Bluff
On March 23, the historic process of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) enlargement passed a critical milestone as Finnish President Sauli Niinistö signed into law legislation on accession to the Alliance approved by parliament. In response, the Kremlin merely expressed regret about this development and reiterated the absence of any threat from Russia to its… Read more »