Donna Welles

Washington, DC. Economist. Here is my website: http://www.donnawelles.com/

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Latest posts by Donna Welles

Russians React to Obama's Reelection

RuNet Echo  8 November 2012

With America's presidential elections finally over, Russians are reacting to Barack Obama's reelection, voicing fears and hopes about topics ranging from the Reset to America's waning global hegemony. Politicians and netizens have already begun weighing in.

Russia: Religiosity & the Murdered U.S. Ambassador

RuNet Echo  15 September 2012

Responding to the attack on U.S. embassies across the Muslim world (specifically the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya), Russian bloggers have addressed the perceived growth of religiosity in their own country, and used the incident as an opportunity to discuss the wider consequences of political unrest.

Russia: 40th Anniversary of Canada-USSR Hockey Series

RuNet Echo  4 September 2012

RuNet blogger Vladimir Kharitonov honored the 40th anniversary of the “Summit Series” – eight hockey games played on two continents between the USSR and Team Canada in September 1972. Although Canada emerged with more wins, the series allowed the Soviet Union to showcase some of its hockey talent that had...

Russia: Pussy Riot's Guilty Verdict

RuNet Echo  17 August 2012

'The judge said one of the reasons for a “real sentence” was to “caution others”. ' - Russian and anglophone Twitter users respond to the guilty verdict and two-year prison sentence handed down to Pussy Riot members.

Russia: USA's Hammon Leads Russia to Basketball Semis

RuNet Echo  8 August 2012

Twitter user @zhenya_jane wrote on the U.S. native Becky Hammon‘s contribution to #London2012: “She's 35 years old, 168 cm tall. Becky Hammon is in the starting lineup of the Russian national basketball team. Thought they wouldn't take her.” In 2008, Hammon faced ridicule from Americans when she gained Russian citizenship...

Russia: Bloggers Honor Tupac Shakur

Highly intelligent and socially aware, Tupac Shakur embodied the plight of contemporary African Americans who struggle to overcome poverty and racism. RuNet bloggers have honored him by his story from beginning to end on the anniversary of his birth. (June 16, 1971 - September 13, 1996)

Russia: NHL Stars Return to 2012 World Hockey Championship

Undefeated after seven games, and boasting an All-Star lineup, the Russian national team will face Norway in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 World Ice Hockey Championship. Many bloggers have framed the story as a homecoming for Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, with others reflecting on their complicated past in Russian international competition.

Russia: Putin's Return Rouses Online Polemics

In the wake of protests against Vladimir Putin's inauguration, the reactions of Russian bloggers demonstrate a wide spectrum of opinion online. That oppositionist activism has suddenly taken on a more radical tone has only further inflamed the passions of already polemicized observers.

Russia: Tolstoy's ‘War and Peace’ Legacy Today

RuNet Echo continues its series examining the 200th anniversary of Tsarist Russia's Victory over Napoleon by examining Leo Tolstoy's novel 'War and Peace' and the role it plays today online. On the RuNet, discussions about 'War and Peace' and Tolstoy's literary style are common, addressing a variety of issues both linguistic and social.

Russia: The Battle of Borodino Lives On

RuNet Echo  30 April 2012

After 200 years, through the works of artists such as Leo Tolstoy (as well as legal disputes about the historic preservation of the battlefield), the Battle of Borodino continues to inspire passion and incite controversy. In this post, RuNet Echo returns to the historical and modern contexts of Russia's victory in the Napoleonic Wars.