Scapegoating strategies are among the most popular exclusionist tools of the populist radical right. Such strategies include shifting blame, stigmatizing and excluding various actors perceived as ethnically and culturally different within the symbolic borders of the “native” community. These...
The latest in fair observer’s series of fictional dialogues intended to make sense of the underside of the news. FADE IN: INT.OFFICE AT CIA HQ, LANGLEY VA. — EVENING TWO SENIOR CIA ANALYSTS: TONY CATANIA (37), TAMMY AINSWORTH (45). THEY HAVE BEEN ASKED TO ASSIST ON...
Americans have been shocked by the death and destruction of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, filling our screens with bombed buildings and dead bodies lying in the street. But the US and its allies have waged war in country after country for decades, carving swathes of destruction through cities,...
Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the international condemnation it has generated contains key lessons for policymakers. They are lessons that should have been learned in past global crises but weren't. However, the Ukraine crisis offers an opportunity to correct that...
The leaders of Russia and China are joining forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing for the Winter Olympics to show solidarity with his largest trade partner at an event that the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia are boycotting...
Glenn Carle, a retired CIA officer and geopolitical expert, and Atul Singh, founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Fair Observer, discuss the Ukraine crisis and ask what is Russia's next move?
There is no universal profile of a pro-Kremlin backer. Martyna Bildziukiewicz, a strategic communications expert and political scientist, says that favorable attitudes toward Russia and its narratives do not necessarily translate into geopolitical support.
Time magazine and its Associated Press source both appear somewhat befuddled by the remarks of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when he claimed at the UN General Assembly that “it is hard for the West to accept seeing its centuries-long dominance in world affairs diminishing.” While the...
When it was ratified in 1987, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) eliminated a category of weapons that was a major threat to Europe. One must remember how much of a step forward this event was during the Cold War. In the early 1980s, Europe was vulnerable to military...
Despite popular thinking, the view from Moscow is of a Russia in decline. The lowest point in the fortunes of Russia since the Mongol invasion had been the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which was forced on the Russians by the Germans on March 3, 1918. Today, it is worse. Russia is back behind...
In Russia, Putin’s image is carefully crafted to make him appear both loveable and powerful. Russian President Vladimir Putin is a big fan of the photo op. Here he is cuddling a tiger, feeding a fawn, riding a horse shirtless, uncovering ancient artifacts beneath the Black Sea waves, guiding...
Lack of readily-available palliative care in Russia is driving cancer patients to suicide. In February 2014, the suicide of a distinguished navy commander rattled Russia’s social sphere. Former Rear Admiral Vyacheslav Apanasenko died in hospital after attempting to shoot himself, following a...
As Russia faces international isolation, the state has turned to culture as a means of political leverage. The year 2014 was rich in events that gave a new direction to Russia’s foreign policy and strengthened its resolve to pursue this policy in...
Relationships between men and women in 19th-century Russia did not follow the widely accepted clichés. An Ordinary Marriage is based upon the rich and eccentric private documents of the Chikhachev family — gentry landowners who lived in provincial Russia — and offers a fascinating take on...
Several Russian journalists are trying to wake up the nation to the true cost of Sochi. The start of the glamorous Olympic Games in Sochi, estimated to cost around $50 billion, brought Russia as a nation together. The majority of journalists expressed in unison their love for Russia with words of...
