Latest posts by Vilhelm Konnander from July, 2008
Russia: Plans for Naval Expansion
Siberian Light writes about the Russian navy's plans to build new vessels and expand its operations, mainly concerning the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Soviet History: Nuclear Disaster Areas
The Turkish Invasion posts a link to a documentary photo site on nuclear disaster areas in the former Soviet Union.
Latvia, Russia: Views of European Court Ruling
Marginalia presents a Latvian view of the background to and case of Kononov vs. Latvia, which Latvia lost last week in the European Court of Human Rights, whereas Voices from Russia gives a Russian view of perceived Latvian motives for the original war crimes’ charges against Kononov.
Latvia: European Court Goes Against Riga
Who has the right to pass judgment on what a man does in the service of his country during wartime and what should the legal grounds for such a verdict be? These are some of the key issues surrounding a legal process on WWII war crimes against a soviet veteran, Vasily Kononov, that has been dragged through the Latvian legal system since 1998. However, earlier this week, the European Court of Human Rights found that Latvia lacked legal grounds for prosecuting Kononov. Following the verdict, the Russian blogosphere has generally reacted with joy and relief, although there have also been some opposing voices.
Poland: A Land of Earthquakes?
Polandian accounts for Polish earhquake zones and points to the fact that Poland in the last two weeks has had 17 earthquakes, whereas California none.
Ukraine: Manoeuvres for Presidential Power
Foreign Notes comments on allegations on the Ukrainian presidential website that Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko is conspiring with Party of Regions's chairman Viktor Yanukovich to succeed Viktor Yushchenko as President of Ukraine in 2010.
Ukraine: The King Who Never Was
Kiev Ukraine News Blog posts a Seattle Times review of a biography about Vasyl Vyshyvani, a former Habsburg archduke, who in the interwar years aspired for the throne of Ukraine.
Ukraine: The Mystery of Political Technologists
Taraz Kuzio ponders upon the mystery of political technologists and the bemusement with them despite their often inferior analyses.
Russia, US: A Cuba Crisis in the Making
Der Spiegelfechter (GER) comments on rumours in Moscow, according to which Russia might station strategic bombers on Cuba in reply to deployment of the US missile defence system to Poland and the Czech Republic. Is it a new Cuba crisis in the making?
Russia: OSCE Election Observers Accused of Espionage
Da Rússia (SPA) comments on the claims by a member or Russia's Central Election Commission that OSCE election observers are Western spies.
Russia: Statistics – True or False?
LJ community Politika v Rossii (RUS) discusses results from a set of Russian opinion polls, quite alarming for the government, and asks whether the figures are true or false.
Russia: Increasing Difficulties for Expats
Copydude argues that foreigners living in Russia are experiencing increasing difficulties with staying on due to stiffer visa regulations, and even portrays the situation as an exodus for expats from the country.
Russia: Orthodox Instead of Universal Values?
A Step At A Time quotes an RFE/RL piece on the adoption by the Russian Orthodox Church of its Basic Principles on Human Dignity, Freedom, and Rights. One of its authors, Eurasianist Aleksandr Dugin, argues that the 1948 UN Human Rights declaration should be reexamined. Western HR-values should be replaced...
Central & Eastern Europe: IMF Policies and TB Deaths
Eternal Remont draws attention to a recent study from Cambridge University claiming that IMF's policies in Eastern Europe during the 1990s implicitly caused the deaths of some 100,000 people from tuberculosis.
Russia: Foreign Policy Under Medvedev
Der Spiegelfechter (GER) analyses Russian foreign policy under president Medvedev, following the publication of the country's first foreign policy concept in eight years.
Russia: Gulag Online
Robert Amsterdam draws attention to an online exhibition on the Soviet Gulag system – created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in cooperation with Russian human rights organization “Memorial” – and posts a video depicting how arrests were made during the Stalinist era.
Russia: Megatons to Megawatts Programme
Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces analyzes the risks involved with converting Russian uranium from nuclear warheads into low-enriched uranium for nuclear energy – the Megatons to Megawatts programme.
Russia: .su-Domain On the Rise
LJ user russ_cyberspace turns attention to the fact that the Internet domain .su (Soviet Union) has grown sevenfold since 2006.
Russia: Call to Shut Down ICTY
A Step at a Time accounts for an RFE/RL-interview with a Russian academic, commenting on the country's wish to close the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.
Poland: Business and Bureaucracy
Edward Lucas reflects on the difficulties for business still posed by obsolete imperial bureaucratic traditions in large tracts of Central and Eastern Europe.
U.S., Russia: Foreign Policy
The Ivanov Report reflects upon the ignorance of and indifference to Russia in US foreign policy and in the ongoing presidential campaign, and ponders upon the implications for Russian policies towards the US with a new incoming administration in Washington.
Vilhelm Konnander's space
