· April, 2008

Stories about Russia from April, 2008

Russia: “A NATO Summit For Putin”

  7 April 2008

Transatlantic Politics writes about Vladimir Putin, “the real winner of the NATO summit in Bucharest”: “Perhaps, in the end, Putin smiles because he knows the truth: Putin has also looked into the West’s eyes to see its soul and has found that the West is lacking both a soul and...

Russia: Relations With NATO

Streetwise Professor writes about the relationship between NATO and Russia: “If NATO expansion does not threaten Russian territory in the slightest, it does sharply constrain Russian freedom of action in Ukraine and Georgia.”

Armenia: Union With Russia

Unzipped reports that the Vice Speaker of the Russian Duma has suggested that “Russia and Armenia should form a union state.” The blog says it is shocked by such calls and seems interested in starting a discussion on the matter.

Russia: More on Litvinenko's Poisoning

  4 April 2008

Sean's Russia Blog “revisits” Aleksandr Litvinenko's poisoning case and, among other things, recommends reading a piece the New York Sun by Edward Jay Epstein: “The article’s value is in his questioning of the accepted and unchallenged assumptions about the British investigation, the chain of events, Litvinenko’s movement around London, the...

Russia, U.S.: Response to Opinion Piece on Russophobia

  4 April 2008

A detailed response to an opinion piece by Andrei Tsygankov, associate professor of international relations at San Francisco State University, who claims that “the U.S. presidential candidates are increasingly playing the Russophobia card in their campaigns” – at Scraps of Moscow.

Ukraine: “No Go from NATO”

  3 April 2008

A roundup on Ukraine and NATO: A Fistful of Euros reads Yushchenko's address and isn't surprised “other NATO countries are balking”; Mark MacKinnon writes that granting membership to Ukraine might lead to “further internal strife”; Eternal Remont highlights the Communists’ “sophisticated and highly nuanced policy position”; Ukrainiana posts a video...

Caucasus: Geopolitical Railroads

Window on Eurasia says that while oil and gas pipelines through the region attract more attention, railroads might have more geopolitical significance. In particular, the blog examines what plans for a new railroad linking Iran and Azerbaijan might mean, and not least on Russian and NATO interests in Eurasia as...

Bulgaria: Rethinking History – A National Holiday in Days of Tragedy

  2 April 2008

On Feb. 28, a fire on the train from Kardam to Sofia killed nine people. The majority of Bulgarians thought that a national mourning must be declared, but the authorities postponed it until after the celebration of Bulgaria's biggest national holiday on March 3. Yavor Mihaylov reviews and translates Bulgarian bloggers' reactions.