De-Stalinization and de-Putinization

The Russian Electoral Commission did not validate the candidacy of Boris Nadezhdin. But the emergence of such a candidate is symptomatic. The atmosphere in Russia in recent months is strikingly reminiscent of that at the end of Stalin’s rule.

20 min read

Ukraine’s dark clouds – and a silver lining?

By the end of last year, international news on Ukraine began increasingly to look like obituaries. “Kyiv on edge,” “Ukraine’s grim prospects,” “Ukraine braces for political disaster,” “Ukraine’s nightmare scenario is now a reality”: these are just a few headlines…

7 min read

Where is the Will of the West?

The West and Ukraine had everything they needed to win: economic resources far superior to Russia’s, a technological edge in military capabilities, and last but not least, the international law on their side. Despite this, Putin now believes he has the wind in his sails, to the extent that he no longer conceals his unchanged ambitions for Ukraine and beyond. How did we get to this point?

21 min read

Maria Vassilievna Rozanova: a Major Figure of Russian Literature and Dissidence

It is not easy to profile Maria Vassilievna Rozanova (1930, Vitebsk - 2023, Fontenay-aux-Roses), a publisher, author, art historian, architect, jeweler and fashion designer. This valiant, brilliant and unclassifiable woman was a key figure in Russian intellectual life and a great mind.

6 min read

Would Brussels Fall for Russia’s Trick of Obfuscated Political Reality in Georgia?

While Europeans saw the failure of the attempt to depose the Georgian president as “a victory for Georgia’s European future”, Jaba Devdariani shows, with facts to back it up, that it was in fact a maneuver by the Georgian government to conceal an otherwise serious affair of collusion by the ruling Georgian Dream party with the FSB.

7 min read

Ukraine’s War and Challenges of Decolonization

Why western “political realists” are wrong about the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war which is in fact a “culture war”, and is all about history and identity. In fact, this war has shaken the academic world, writes one of the best Ukrainian political analysts, Mykola Riabchuk.

15 min read

Why the Anti-jewish Riots in the North Caucasus?

The pogrom at Makhachkala airport in Dagestan (southern Russia) took the world by surprise. How should we interpret this event? Was it spontaneous, or did the Russian authorities manipulate it to send messages to the West and Israel?

6 min read

Why Putin Chooses Chaos

On October 5, 2023, Vladimir Putin delivered a lengthy speech to the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club. Françoise Thom analyzes this speech, which unambiguously sets out the Kremlin’s global aspirations, and identifies its main ingredients.

16 min read