Cheering for the greater evil
The value of Mark Ames‘ writings to humanity lies in the fact that sometimes he goes after the right people. It is diminished by his habit of assaulting the lesser evil out of any two, in 2015 as in 1998, in…
Winterings in Trans-Scythia
Fragments of a blog
Winterings in Trans-Scythia
Fragments of a blog
Category Ukraine
The conflict is shaping new identities
The Guardian published a long article by Peter Pomerantsev on the Kremlin’s information warfare last week, along with a Russian translation. While it reads smoothly in English, the Russian version requires a little effort to take in, but I still hope it…
“Worldview factors”
Paul Goble has summarized a piece by the Ukrainian journalist Bogdan Butkevich, 10 Reasons Why the Donbass Will Not Become Ulster. I’ve been saying some of these things here and elsewhere but a Ukrainian perspective is more valuable. Some quotes – first, on…
“More than mere journalism is needed”
More from Peter Pomerantsev’s Ukrains’ka Pravda interview (his text, translated by me, is in blue). I think he cuts to the heart of the problem but I detest the idea of a “global BBC” financed by a group of governments. There…
“Russia arrived at postmodernism via post-Soviet cynicism”
Peter Pomerantsev speaking to Ukrains’ka Pravda. Excerpt One (dark blue, translation mine), no comment for now: It’s not that the Kremlin has built a political system around Baudrillard’s ideas. Russia arrived at postmodernism via post-Soviet cynicism. It followed its own…
“The methods employed were those of an aggressor”
From the judgment of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg [pdf], p. 194: It was contended before the Tribunal that the annexation of Austria was justified by the strong desire expressed in many quarters for the union of Austria and…
Homecoming/Heimkehr 1941-2015
Last weekend, on the first anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Russian TV aired a propaganda “documentary” called Krym: vozvraschenie na rodinu, which can be translated as Crimea: Homecoming or literally Crimea: The Return to Motherland. Let’s do a simple…
Born in the country, not far from the ruined capital
Last week, The Interpreter ran a story by Paul Goble that emphasized the importance of the urban-rural divide for understanding today’s Ukraine. The story was largely based on an interview with Sergey Koshman, a coordinator of We Are Europeans, a Ukrainan civil movement, published…
There’s a longer run, too (for those who’ll make it)
I’m not going to watch that documentary but there seems to be little discrepancy over its content between the state-controlled and independent media and from what I have read so far, I believe this title and subtitle, by the Ukrainian UNIAN, area…
“No longer hyperbolic” to call him one of the most dangerous ideologues
Professor Ronald Beiner of the University of Toronto discusses Alexander Dugin’s dangerousness in a guest post at Crooked Timber. I am reposting my comment, slightly edited. I have always thought of Dugin as a buffoon and charlatan not worth discussing…
Six women at the front line
In The Guardian, Elena Savchuk on female nurses and fighters with the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Aidar. My two cents in the comments, edited: The author reports that fighters of the Aidar battalion “have a reputation for fierce nationalism” and writes…
Multitasking a must.
“Never has so much been written about a speech that hasn’t been given,” said Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu of his address to US Congress scheduled for today. True: it’s been on the front pages for weeks. Some argue that Netanyahu…