Skip Putin. Talk to Russians

An appeal from Russian civil society

The Russian army under Vladimir Putin’s command is waging a brutal war against independent Ukraine. The Ukrainian army’s resistance is brave and strong. The worldwide support for the Ukrainian cause is unprecedented. But there’s one more thing to do. Skip Putin. Talk to Russians. Russians are still hesitant about protesting against this malicious ...
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Skip Putin. Talk to Russians

Performances of Democracy

An excerpt from Jessica Pisano’s Staging Democracy

This book is about performances of democratic politics in Russia and Ukraine: why people take part in such performances, how they are related to economic change, and how they affect the meanings that attach to political participation. ...

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Performances of Democracy

A Letter to the Western Left From Kyiv

Critique of liberal internationalism cannot add up to support for the ‘spheres of interest’ doctrine

A large part of the western Left, focused on NATO and the USA, failed to see Russian aggression. Of course, the war on terror needs to be brought into the discussion – but critique of liberal internationalism cannot add up to support for the ‘spheres of interest’ doctrine....

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A Letter to the Western Left From Kyiv

Not about NATO

To frame NATO as a security threat to Russia caters to Kremlin propaganda

On Monday 21 Feb, on the eighth anniversary of the victory of the Euromaidan, Russian president Vladimir Putin effectively declared war on Ukraine. To justify this recklessness, he gave an hour-long pseudo-historical rant that portrayed Ukraine as an artificial state that owes its existence to Russia. He also accused the ...
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Not about NATO

What Freud Would Say About Left-Wing Infighting

Sanders supporters and others need to resist the temptation to retreat into ideological purity

At the 2008 reunion of veterans of the 1968 Columbia occupation, I remember sitting near him at one session and watching the abuse he patiently took from aging movement heavies who voiced their anger at him for having raised doubts, in his books, about the wisdom of their most violent ...
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What Freud Would Say About Left-Wing Infighting