Home
Natan Sharansky's Library tagged → View Popular
"Whatever happened to glasnost?" BBC News
"The new Russian journalism first lost its modesty, then its innocence." The words of Alexei Simonov, a Russian media freedom campaigner, sound like an epitaph for "glasnost", the spirit of openness encouraged by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, which accelerated the collapse of communism.
"Killing Russian Journalists" Washington Times
Whether one is a dissident, a human rights advocate, a journalist or a lawyer, it is no longer safe to do one's job if information uncovered criticizes leading authority figures. The high hopes after the fall of the Soviet Union that Russia could become a full-fledged democracy are fading. In December, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared that Russian suppression of the media and of dissidents was part of "clearly authoritarian trends."
"A Threat to Putin’s Big Plans" NYTimes.com
Over the last eight years, as Vladimir V. Putin has amassed ever more power, Russians have often responded with a collective shrug, as if to say: Go ahead, control everything — as long as we can have our new cars and amply stocked supermarkets, our sturdy ruble and cheap vacations in the Turkish sun. “We talk about a lack of democracy in Russia, but I like my own formula for the country, which is authoritarianism with the consent of the governed,” said Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “And it can be taken away.”
"Russia Will Be a Troublemaker in 2009" RealClearPolitics
The world enters 2009 with Russia in play in a way it hasn't seen in decades. The relevant comparison isn't 1998, when the Russians engaged in default and devaluation but remained within the bounds of their existing political and economic system (as Lenin said, two steps forward, one step back). The history to consider is 1989--as key aspects of the Russian system could change for the worse.
"Putin Rewriting Stalin's Bloody History" Netwmd
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is busily rewriting the history of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's blood-thirsty dictatorship over the Soviet Union. So says the BBC in a story entitled, "Stalin could win Russian vote," published today. This is a frightening development given the well-documented terror under which the Soviet people lived during Stalin's reign.
Image:Vladimir Putin with Natan Sharansky-1.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Vladimir Putin meets with former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky - The Real Russia Problem - washingtonpost.com
The threat to Georgia, Russia's other democratic neighbors and America ultimately arises from a lack of democracy within Russia. Changing that should be the focus of statecraft today -- if we want to ensure that the Kremlin poses no threat to peace tomorrow.
Selected Tags
Related Tags
Sponsored Links
Top Contributors
Diigo is about better ways to research, share and collaborate on information. Learn more »
Join Diigo