Russian history

• 
• 4/24/2022
  

  Understanding How Counterfactuals Shape Putin's Worldview and Historical Rhetoric

  by Gavriel Rosenfeld

  While historians have noted the instrumental use of history in Putin's speeches about Ukraine, more attention should be paid to his use of broad counterfactuals that, however they oversimplify historical contingency, successfully evoke politically potent emotions like regret, relief and fear. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  4/6/2022
  

  Blaming the "Third Rome" Doctrine for Putin's Invasion Distorts His Motives

  by Matthew Lenoe

  "Bogus theories about an innate Russian drive to expand will only complicate negotiations with Moscow, especially a possible post-Putin Moscow."

• 
• 4/3/2022
  

  The Lost Opportunity to Set Post-Soviet Russia on a Stable Course

  by Robert Brent Toplin

  The transition from communism was always going to be difficult for Russia and other post-Soviet states. But American politicians and advisors must share blame for the rise of oligarchy and Putinism as responses to economic instability.

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Putin's Threat to Confiscate Foreign Companies' Assets is Dangerous – To Russia

  by Benjamin Sawyer

  The Bolshevik seizure of foreign property and repudiation of foreign debt initially made the Soviet Union a pariah in the world economy, and slowed economic development thereafter. Will Putin's invasion of Ukraine have the same consequences for Russians? 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  3/29/2022
  

  How Putin Conquered Russia's Oligarchs

  A key for Putin's consolidation of power was not eliminating the post-Soviet oligarchy but shaking it down for protection money and political obedience.

• 
• 4/3/2022
  

  Russia – And Not Just its Army – Is Headed for a Crisis of Morale

  by David A. Mayers

  Russian soliders and civilians will, sooner or later, have to confront the disconnect between their government's patriotic justification of the Ukraine invasion and reality. This existential bleakness may shape Russia for decades to come. 

• 
• SOURCE: Jewish Currents
  3/28/2022
  

  "We Need New Stories of Post-Soviet Jews"

  A team of historians and Jewish and Russian Studies scholars introduce a project to examine the more recent history of Jews in the former Soviet Union. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/24/2022
  

  Tim Snyder: How Putin Misjudged the Western Response

  Did Putin interpret the January 6 attack on the Capitol as evidence that American democracy and the Biden administration were too fracture and weak to coordinate a response to the invasion of Ukraine? 

• 
• SOURCE: Der Spiegel
  3/17/2022
  

  Political Scientist Ivan Krastev: Putin Lives by Historical Analogy

  "For Putin, Russia has long since ceased being a country in the standard sense; it is a kind of historic, 1,000-year-old body."

• 
• SOURCE: Deseret News
  3/17/2022
  

  Is Putin a New Constantine?

  by Daniel Gullotta

  "In short, Putin seems to strike some conservatives as a new Constantine for a new Christendom standing against progressive totalitarianism."

• 
• SOURCE: Puck
  3/8/2022
  

  The Anniversary of Stalin's Death Shows Authoritarianism is Bigger than One Authoritarian

  by Julia Ioffe

  Liberal Russians reflect on Stalin's death 69 years later and observe parallels with Putin's approach to internal dissent. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  3/9/2022
  

  The West, and United States, Undermine Sanctions with their Financial Institutions

  by Casey Michel

  American law supports many of the instruments of international financial crime, and American banks and law firms staff them, because they are profitable and useful to oligarchs from around the world. Sanctions on Russian oligarchs will fail unless there is a crackdown on oligarchs in general. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mississippi Free Press
  3/3/2022
  

  Lies, Hubris, and Imperial Overreach: Putin's Big Mistakes in Ukraine

  by Brian Lapierre

  While the people of Ukraine will suffer most from war, the suffering of Russians under sanctions and domestic repression may in the long run prove fatal to Vladimir Putin's hold on power. 

• 
• SOURCE: New Statesman
  3/9/2022
  

  A Tale of Two Dictators: Putin's Relationship to Stalin's Legacy

  by Simon Sebag Montefiore

  Despite their ideological incompatibility, Putin's nationalism depends on the cult of fear and repressive apparatus of the Stalinist era, which was never comprehensively demolished after the fall of Communism. 

• 
• SOURCE: Dissent
  3/2/2022
  

  The Seeds of War

  by Gregory Afinogenov

  Putin's actions belie the argument that Russia was provoked by NATO expansion; Russian imperialism is driving neighbors toward the western alliance, not the other way around. 

• 
• SOURCE: Jewish Currents
  3/3/2022
  

  Our Oligarch? Do Roman Abramovich's Donations Link Major Jewish Philanthropies to Putin?

  by David Klion

  Abramovich was one of a number of Soviet Jews, excluded from the Communist Party, who moved aggressively into the post-Soviet economy, amassed great fortunes, and either held or fell from favor with Vladimir Putin. Are his enormous donations to global Jewish charities reputation laundering? 

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  2/26/2022
  

  The Antisemitism Underlying Putin's Claim to "Denazify" Ukraine

  by Jason Stanley

  "Putin, the leader of Russian Christian nationalism, has come to view himself as the global leader of Christian nationalism, and is increasingly regarded as such by Christian nationalists around the world."

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  3/2/2022
  

  The Long History of Russian Empire Behind Putin's Territorial Goals

  by Lynne Hartnett

  "Putin understands the post-Soviet global order through the prism of Russia’s long history. And that history is inextricably tied to Russia’s dynamic imperial mission both in the past and today."

• 
• SOURCE: Jewish Telegraphic Agency
  2/27/2022
  

  What Putin Means by Claiming to "Denazify" Ukraine

  Putin's claims to be protecting Ukrainians from domestic fascism will fail as propaganda, says Jason Stanley, who calls Russian Christian nationalism the real threat to Jews in Ukraine.

• 
• SOURCE: War on the Rocks
  2/28/2022
  

  Can Intelligence (or History) Predict How Far Putin Might Go?

  by Calder Walton

  Despite the image of individual operatives, assembling reliable intelligence about Putin's invasion plans is a product of multiple coordinated capabilities, just like it was at the height of the cold war.