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Soviet Union

And Then There Was One

Tom Engelhardt | Posted 05.07.2013 | World
Tom Engelhardt

Could the United States actually be the last empire? Is it possible that there will be no successor because something has profoundly changed in the realm of empire building?

Crises Also Fade

William Bradley | Posted 05.03.2013 | World
William Bradley

Perhaps Obama should be more careful about what he calls a "red line." Dictators are not impressed by empty threats. Would there be support for a multi-national effort to secure chemical weapons stores?

Unnerved by the Uncertainty of Complexity: The Boston Bombings

William Bradley | Posted 04.19.2013 | World
William Bradley

Even before the wild overnight developments in the Boston bombings -- Russians, Chechens, the Caucuses (sic), Kyrgy-what? -- it was clear that we are culturally unprepared for the complexity of the Boston bombings.

Why Moscow Is Important to Pyongyang

Daniel Wagner | Posted 04.16.2013 | World
Daniel Wagner

If war were to break out, the presumed influx of refugees into Russia could create a humanitarian crisis and a burdensome price tag for the Kremlin -- just as it would for China. Russia is similarly vulnerable to any radiation that may blow from the peninsula on to Russian territory.

Gale Force Winds of History Hit Mad Men, Which Still Finds the Time for Some Obvious Practical Lessons

William Bradley | Posted 04.15.2013 | Entertainment
William Bradley

This was a workmanlike episode, Mad Men moving some plot elements further into place, another chapter in Matt Weiner's novel for television, with some deft direction from series star Jon Hamm.

Three Leadership Steps for Peace in Korea

Charles Knight | Posted 04.15.2013 | Politics
Charles Knight

Before you take your next steps to deal with the Korean situation reflect on Cold War history of American reaction to our perception of a powerful threat.

The Last Lion Keeps Roaring -- A Book Review

Bill Marriott | Posted 04.10.2013 | Books
Bill Marriott

Writer Paul Reid took Manchester's volume of work and has just completed the final work. It's very long -- 1,053 pages and small type and very, very few chapters -- but well done.

Riga and the Waffen-SS: Face to Face with the Unspeakable

Richard Brodsky | Posted 04.09.2013 | World
Richard Brodsky

On March 15 we had visited several sites of massacres, mass murders and concentration camps where hundreds of thousands of people had been shot or otherwise killed. The next day I'm standing face-to-face with someone who might have been there.

Van Cliburn and My Two Enchanted Evenings

Mary Daily | Posted 05.08.2013 | Arts
Mary Daily

News last week of the death of pianist Van Cliburn brought back fond memories for me, of someone who made an indelible impression on me at a young age.

President Hugo Chavez and America's "Backyard"

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 05.06.2013 | World
Joseph A. Palermo

Hugo Chavez defied this history of power relations in the hemisphere. And for that defiance elite voices will vilify him, but a far larger number of people will see him as a hero.

Soviet Founder Vladimir Lenin Comes Back to Life

Reuters | Irina Dvalidze | Posted 03.05.2013 | Arts

Soviet nostalgia is nothing new for Moscow. An embalmed body of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin has been on display in Moscow’s Red Square since...

Kourtney and Kim, Will You Take Orran? An Open Letter to Kim Kardashian

Kristy Khachigian | Posted 05.05.2013 | Impact
Kristy Khachigian

Like you, I am one of a million Armenians living in the United States with endless, everyday opportunity. Our "cousins" in Armenia are creative and entrepreneurial -- just like us -- but in the shadow of the former Soviet Union, they constantly fight poverty and repression.

Stalin More Popular In Russia Now Than At End Of Soviet Union

AP | VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV | Posted 03.01.2013 | World

MOSCOW -- An opinion survey commissioned by the Carnegie Endowment says that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin has remained widely admired in Russia and ot...

Recently Released Letters Between Reagan and Gorbachev Shed Light on the End of the Cold War

Jason Saltoun-Ebin | Posted 04.29.2013 | World
Jason Saltoun-Ebin

Nuclear weapons provided cover for the Soviet Union to abandon the Cold War without surrendering. At the same time, Reagan likely did not realize that the United States could win the Cold War without a Soviet surrender.

Human Rights and the Failings of U.S. Public Diplomacy in Eurasia

Amy McDonough | Posted 04.13.2013 | World
Amy McDonough

If the United States starts treating these issues more consistently, leaders of oppressive regimes in the region will know that they will face increased pressure on the international stage if they do not choose to fully respect the rights and freedoms of their citizens.

The Soviet Union Might Actually Still Exist

AP | YURAS KARMANAU | Posted 04.09.2013 | World

MINSK, Belarus — The powerful Soviet Union may still exist after all – at least on paper. Former Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich ...

Austria: Compulsory Military Service Haunted by the Ghosts of Stalingrad?

Franz-Stefan Gady | Posted 03.12.2013 | World
Franz-Stefan Gady

For the first time in my living memory, the Austrian Federal Army is front-page news of Austrian papers and is debated heatedly on public television. ...

The Trouble With Transnistria

Miles Atkinson & Fleur De Weerd | Posted 03.10.2013 | Travel
Miles Atkinson & Fleur De Weerd

An unrecognized breakaway Republic sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine, it has been called the most lawless place in Europe and is rumored to be a thriving transit zone for arms and human trafficking.

Should the U.S. Secure Syria's Chemical Weapons?

Jesse Aizenstat | Posted 02.13.2013 | World
Jesse Aizenstat

Given the historical nature of when states tend to use chemical weapons, it would seem unlikely President Assad would use them now. But problems still exist.

Nasrin Sotoudeh And The March Of Objects

Marina Furman | Posted 02.04.2013 | Religion
Marina Furman

Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh sits starving in a prison cell in Tehran. Twenty-five years ago that was me. The prison was Leningrad, but the story was the same: a mother of young children punished by a dictatorial regime, yearning for the basic freedoms Americans sometimes take for granted.

Exhibition Banned By Soviets Reopens In Moscow

AP | By MANSUR MIROVALEV | Posted 02.05.2013 | Travel

MOSCOW -- Better known in the West for promising to "bury" the capitalist world, Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev is also remembered by Russians for ban...

Europe's Last Dictator

Reuters | Posted 01.27.2013 | World

MINSK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - He is a pariah in the West, viewed suspiciously by Russia and loathed by opponents in exile or jail, but Belarussian Presi...

Blowing Up America for $2,300

Richard Greene | Posted 11.16.2012 | Politics
Richard Greene

We are in danger of going over "The Fiscal Cliff" -- in large part -- because of the framing of the Bush tax Cut issue and adding "revenue" to our debt crisis has been appalling. Why is no one breaking this down? And why are we ignoring two hugely relevant points?

The Cuban Missile Crisis: What We Must Never Lose Sight Of 50 Years Later

Hoyt Hilsman | Posted 12.30.2012 | Fifty
Hoyt Hilsman

Fifty years ago this week, much changed for me, my family and the rest of America. As a nation and a world, we had stared down the barrel of nuclear destruction. However, it seems clear that 50 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis we are not much closer to banishing the threat of nuclear war.

What the Cuban Missile Crisis Teaches Us About Iran

Joel Rubin | Posted 12.19.2012 | World
Joel Rubin

Resolving this issue diplomatically however represents the best possible outcome for the United States. So why are some Members of Congress doing their utmost to make this outcome less likely?