Russia - Quillette (Page 4)

Can the Revolution in German Foreign Policy Last?

During the fierce debate over the Iraq war, the German political scientist Karl Kaiser said, “Europeans have done something that no one has ever done before: create a zone of peace where war is ruled out, absolutely out.” And, he added, “Europeans are convinced that this model is valid for

Brian Stewart

11 Apr 2022 · 6 min read

Corrupter of the World

The depth and breadth of corruption in countries, leaders, and peoples has gained more and more public attention in recent years, another torment to add to those already disturbing the peace of the socially aware. It is tormenting because—like the warming of the globe, the advance of authoritarianism, and

John Lloyd

29 Mar 2022 · 14 min read

Monkey with a Grenade

“Not even a pig shits where it eats.” So said Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev when attacking Nobel Laureate Boris Pasternak for publishing his masterpiece Dr. Zhivago abroad while still living in Russia. Mao railed against the “running dogs” of capitalism. Stalinist propaganda posters vilified priests as sly geese, while Stalinist

Robert Ginzburg

20 Mar 2022 · 5 min read

The Pathologies of Imperialism

An earlier version of this article appeared in the German language newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on March 4th, 2022. February 24th, 2022, constituted a shock to the European psyche. The invasion of Ukraine, without any plausible casus belli, the massive use of military force against civilians, the attempted hunting down

Harold James

11 Mar 2022 · 11 min read

The New Great Game

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine will be remembered as one of the great crimes of the 21st century. The ensuing humanitarian crisis has already caused more than two million refugees to flee their homeland. With the imposition of sanctions, policymakers will have to weigh their political options as a

Joel Kotkin and Hügo Krüger

9 Mar 2022 · 10 min read

An Englishman in Russia Bids His Daughter Farewell

I am an Englishman in Southern Russia. For nearly four years I’ve lived here, helping my Russian ex-partner bring up our (now) eight-year-old daughter. At 9 o’clock last night I saw both of them onto a sleeper-train to Moscow. From there they will fly to Italy and the

Robert Ginzburg

28 Feb 2022 · 6 min read

The Olympics Debacle and the Illusions of Nationalism

Putin’s Neo-Soviet Russia reverted to form with its systematic doping regime at the 2014 Sochi games.

Robert Tracinski

23 Feb 2022 · 6 min read

The New Eurasian Century

The current crises in eastern Europe reflect more than just Kremlin mischief-making—they reflect the first fruits of an emerging world order that spans the vastness from Beijing to Berlin. Unlike the longstanding liberal status quo, with its roots in classical civilization and the Enlightenment, this emerging alternative draws upon

Joel Kotkin

15 Feb 2022 · 9 min read

Ukraine in the Balance

As I write this, Vladimir Putin has moved more than 100,000 troops to Russia’s Ukrainian border, and has strongly implied that he will invade absent an ironclad guarantee that Ukraine will never be permitted to join NATO. Although the Biden administration has rejected that demand, a chorus of

Brian Stewart

14 Feb 2022 · 10 min read

What Putin Really Wants

On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desk sits a bronze statue of Peter the Great, the tsar who spent his four decades in power waging war on neighbors to establish his country as a great power in Europe. Peter would have understood the nature of the current conflict in Eastern

Christopher Miller

14 Feb 2022 · 8 min read

This Is About More Than Ukraine

In the early days of World War Two, George Orwell published a marvelous essay entitled “England Your England.” With the Luftwaffe in the skies above London laying waste to the city, Orwell observed a peculiarly contemptible trait of the English intelligentsia. In a word, this portion of the national elite

Brian Stewart

28 Jan 2022 · 6 min read

Taiwan, Ukraine, and Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations Revisited

Putin believes that the current crisis puts principled opposition to authoritarian empire-building at odds with the imperatives of faith and history, as well as the pragmatic imperative of keeping Germans supplied with energy.

John Lloyd

24 Dec 2021 · 9 min read

Stopped Cold: Remembering Russia's Catastrophic 1939 Campaign Against Finland

Many Finnish soldiers felt pity for their opponents, prodded into battle by merciless commissars.

Sean McMeekin

20 Apr 2021 · 13 min read

I Was Invited to Testify on Energy Policy. Then Democrats Didn't Let Me Speak

What, exactly, had I said that was so dangerous as to lead Democrats to engage in character assassination and undermine liberal democratic norms? Nothing I hadn’t already said last January when I testified before Congress about climate change and energy.

Michael Shellenberger

29 Jul 2020 · 6 min read

What Can We Learn from Dictators' Literature?

Dictators, of course, are terrible people. They also tend to be terrible writers. Yet many tyrants have entertained the illusion that they were literary super geniuses. Mein Kampf and Quotations from Chairman Mao (aka The Little Red Book) are the best-known works in the dictatorial canon, but they represent only

Daniel Kalder

14 Dec 2018 · 10 min read