You may have heard that things are going poorly in Afghanistan. Is it true, maybe, maybe not. In either case, what you likely have not heard is any of this from President Obama. The President has spoken very little of the war in Afghanistan to the American public. From positive reports of progress to horrific […]
Poor Mitt Romney. He tried to play the All American tough guy, opportunistically seizing on Obama’s ‘hot mic’ moment with Medvedev to score some cheap Cold War points by calling Russia America’s “greatest geopolitical foe”. And he succeeded, at least in assuming the “John McCain” mantle in the presidential race. Bashing Russia has become an […]
“I will transmit this message to Vladimir”, outgoing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev tells Obama at the Nuclear Security Summit in response to the US leader’s candid assurance that he will have a freer hand after being re-elected next November. Perhaps Obama wishes the US elections had the same sort of predictability of outcomes seen in […]
With the Russian presidential election behind us, and rather predictable western not-so- optimistic attitudes towards their results, one would expect a further cooling of U.S. -Russia relations. The Obama administration belated congratulation to the President-elect Putin and deepening of anti-Russian rhetoric in American political circles are just a few signs of general discontent and disappointment. […]
Communist Party chair Ziuganov with supporters in Samara, Nov 2011 (credit: www.dp.ru) Russia’s March 4th elections will be remembered for several things: vocal demonstrations after December’s parliamentary vote, Moscow throngs denouncing Putin, and the now-household name of protest leader Aleksei Navalny, alternately pictured with megaphone and in handcuffs. But the most interesting outcome is one […]
The sanctioned peaceful protest that took place in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Saturday, March 17 resulted in arrest of three activists. Members of Bulistan band Jamal Ali, 24, and Natig Kamilov, 24, and another activist Etibar Salmanli, 25, were arrested after a fight that broke during Ali’s performance. The singer has used strong language in […]
It was bound to happen, although I prayed that it wouldn’t. But at least one web site in Azerbaijan has now released the blackmail video involving well-known correspondent Khadija Ismayilova. In response, Khadija has issued a public statement, quoted in an RFE/RL article, saying that she will not be deterred: “If they meant to stop […]
Azerbaijan’s best-known journalist (who also happens to be Azerbaijan’s best journalist, period) alleged yesterday that she is being victimized in a blackmail attempt. Khadija Ismayilova, who writes for a number of publications and hosts the popular “After Work” radio show for RFE/RL’s Baku bureau, made the allegations after receiving a letter containing photographs of a […]
Hardly anyone likes Putin anymore, but he still won the election in a landslide, and is celebrating in style. How is that possible? Of course, it helped to be the only candidate allowed TV airtime, and a hefty (unlimited) government budget for high-stakes propaganda (including some apocalyptic ads depicting Russia descending into WWII style suffering […]
Thousands of protesters took to the streets early today in the northern Azeri city of Quba in what became a scene of violence as police fired tear gas and clubbed demonstrators. Radio Free Europe reports that four people were injured, according to authorities, and I have been told that a videographer from an opposition news agency […]
The following is a guest post by Foreign Policy Association and Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Sarwar Kashmeri. In 1857 the East India Company, a British corporation that had colonized India for a hundred years, introduced the latest version of its service cartridge at the village of Dum Dum outside Calcutta. The cartridge had to be […]
The shooting of two American officers in the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul this last Saturday was a shocking and disturbing event. If however NATO pulls its advisors out of ministries, while understandable, it would be a disappointing precedent and undermine progress and modernization in an evolving Afghanistan. As stability in this country largely […]
The following is a guest post by Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Russia is part of the greater world. We do not wish to and cannot isolate ourselves from it. However, we intend to be consistent in proceeding from our own interests and goals rather than decisions dictated by someone else. Russia will continue […]
Last week, my mom, a doctor working at a local polyclinic, was summoned along with all her colleagues to an unusual kind of staff meeting. The head nurse, a member of the ruling United Russia party, had gathered everyone to remind them of the importance to vote the “correct” way in the upcoming March 4 […]
The closer we get to the presidential election, the more anti-American discourse appears in Russian media. The anti-American rhetoric is not a novelty in a country that lived through decades of the Cold War parity with the United States; it takes a long time for old phobias and fears to be reconsidered. Meanwhile, whatever is […]