Getting out and growing cold
I am increasingly interested in the radicalising views expressed in Russian mainstream media on the relationship between Russia and the “West”. According to some publically acceptable points of view are those who see Russia with its few remaining allies already engulfed in an existential struggle against facism and an imperialism of cultural decay.
Looking eastwards into the rising sun from the Western capitals it seems that the Kremlin decided nearly single handily to depart from accepted formal (like respecting the sovereignty of states unless in defence or unless the UN rules otherwise) as well as informal (like not to justify armed intervention by protecting the interests of one’s own identity group in another country) rules of international relations.
Continue reading “Russia’s frustration with an incompatible political order”
Die Einschätzungen gingen tatsächlich sehr weit auseinander. Im Nachhinein ärgert man sich, nicht noch deutlicher gegen die zum Teil menschenverachtenden, Afghanistan zur Karikatur verzerrenden Allgemeinplätze angegangen zu sein….
There are strong signs that Ukraine today is a divided society and a fragmented state. These divisions have not been invented or imposed by the enlargement policy of the EU or the forceful and decisive Russian reaction to this, however divisive those have been and still are.
Continue reading “Elections in a divided society and fragmenting state?”
The motive behind Schmidts and Schröders support of Russia’s actions may be different in normative as well as political terms (given his age the former may be forgiven to argue as if the Soviet Union was still intact as a predictable adversary embedded in a stable bipolar international order and the latter may not be forgiven for his venal opportunism).
