Category: Russia

Russian ‘mood swing’? High level of dissent ‘points to trouble for Putin’

     

Economic conditions for most Russians are about to get much worse, say analysts [HT: Paul Goble]. That makes grim reading for the Kremlin alongside news that Vladimir Putin’s personal support hit… Read more »

Orban’s Hungary offers a ‘glimpse of Europe’s demise’?

     

At a bucolic border post, Western-trained Hungarian counterintelligence agents recently got word that a known operative of Russia’s foreign spy service was driving into Hungary, and asked headquarters for permission… Read more »

Putin’s conservative rhetoric fueling ‘demoskepticism’?

     

Does conservative support for such illiberal rulers as Poland’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán indicate growing “demoskepticism” on the right? Some conservatives now dismiss policies that are infused with… Read more »

Corruption the ‘soft spot’ of post-Cold War authoritarians

     

The corruption of mafia-like elite circles are the soft spot of post-Cold War authoritarian states, argues AEI analyst Clay R. Fuller. “All authoritarian states are kleptocracies because by definition, authoritarians maintain an artificial monopoly on… Read more »

Disinformation – ‘dictators learning from each other’

     

The activity of the Internet Research Agency (IRA) is just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Russia’s hacking and disinformation efforts, security and social media experts told the U.S…. Read more »

West’s Iron Curtain ‘would be most effective tool against Putin’s kleptocracy’

     

There is a major difference between former Soviet leaders and senior Russian officials today, including Russian President Vladimir Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov, whose families are abroad, former… Read more »

Partnership in Peril: how to repel populist assault on transatlantic community

     

The threat of authoritarian populism will not recede unless a new generation of political leaders offers a credible agenda for improving people’s lives that is more appealing to the public… Read more »

‘The Road to Unfreedom’ critiqued and explored

     

In ‘The Road to Unfreedom’, Timothy Snyder traces the intellectual roots of modern authoritarianism in Russia and how its influence has spread, not least in the West, notes Eurozine.* In… Read more »

Disinformation: Facebook uncovers new active influence operation

     

Facebook said Tuesday that it had discovered a sophisticated coordinated disinformation operation on its platform involving 32 false pages and profiles engaging in divisive messaging ahead of the U.S. midterm… Read more »