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Outsider inside
Tim Kirby
From the mean streets of Cleveland to a Kazakh village on the barren steppe to hosting a national radio political talk show entirely in Russian, Tim is not your usual Moscow expat, in fact he hates the term. Coming to Moscow like a lot of poor migrants, Tim came with a few dollars in his pocket and managed to find work, first in the video game industry and then in political talk and analysis on TV, Radio, and the Russian Internet. Tim is much deeper inside of Russian society and presents a more unique perspective than other foreign analysts.
22 May, 2012, 17:49
Too much, the magic Stalin Bus?
Brutal tyrant or effective manager? Regardless, Joseph Stalin is again moving about Russia – this time, on the side of some of the country's busses. But does he need to be there? A young lady in a policewoman’s uniform sent me a message over VKontakte about the “Stalinobusses” ( see our RT article about them ), that it would be a great topic for my radio show, and well, how could I turn down a...
17 May, 2012, 17:45
Back in the saddle again
The course is set for the next 6 years. Putin was inaugurated, and despite the big victory he has a lot on his plate and I've got a lot to say about it. The biggest unseen task ahead When Putin first came into office, things were in shambles and political and financial realities stood in the way of making big progress in the country. Now things are stable, and Putin is back after a huge...
4 May, 2012, 18:16
A multipolar world – Part 2
In my last post I began to explain how Multipolar Theory can become practice. My lecture to Moscow State University continues here. Blowback The supporters of globalization will not stay silent. In fact they will try to poison the idea of a multipolar world before it makes it into the popular awareness of the world. (According to one speaker at the conference, they already missed their chance in...
4 May, 2012, 18:08
A multipolar world – Part 1
Last week I got the chance to speak at the Theory of a Multipolar World Conference held at Moscow State University and I'd like to share what I said in my presentation with you. But before I give my take on a theory, I should probably explain what that theory is. If you already know about it then feel free to skip to the “what I said at the conference” section. Background Whether we like it or...
19 April, 2012, 13:07
Is NATO cooperation worth Russia’s pride?
So they say there is going to be a NATO base or a transit point in Russia. I got the chance to talk to a NATO representative all about it, but what's really interesting are the local perceptions and reactions. I do a lot of interviews in Russia and I usually get asked the same questions over and over again. One of these is always “What shocked you when you first came to Russia?” This question...
6 April, 2012, 17:06
Run for your lives, inept barbarians are coming!
Western freedom doesn’t seem to generate a lot of variety when it comes to Russia, in fact their opinion about Russia’s “Rise/Resurgence” boils down to a single Orwellian formula. If you are bothering to read a blog from a foreigner in Russia then it probably means that you read a lot of information about Russia in English, so that means that you’ve noticed that there sure are a lot of articles,...
28 March, 2012, 15:55
Let the punishment fit the crime
If you think the all-girl punk band that shocked the nation with an obscene performance in church should be locked up for years just for singing a song then I've got some big questions for you. So the situation is this, the girls of “Pussy Riot” ran into Russia's most famous Cathedral, the site of the national Christmas and Easter services which itself is a symbol of the resurrection of the...
11 March, 2012, 17:23
Who's really causing chaos in Russia?
You may be expecting a long rant about how the US State Department, via various channels like NGOs, is funding the massive Moscow election protests. But the real cause of the protests goes much deeper. I’m not saying that the West isn’t playing a role – in fact the opposition is funded by the outside. This is so blatant (videos of smiling to the cameras protest leadership meeting at the US...
2 March, 2012, 15:51
Russian politics doesn’t fit the Western mold
Western analysts love to show Russian politics into the classic left-right paradigm, but the Russian political spectrum is far more complex and I’d like to offer my own model as a much more accurate alternative. Before I begin to discuss my model we should take a moment to look at a generic western (aka American) left-right model to understand why it doesn't work for Russia… Generic political...
27 February, 2012, 19:47
Heart rules head at Russian election time
It really doesn't matter what the ballots say, what matters is whether people BELIEVE in the results. Every day it becomes more evident that elections and the legitimacy of government itself is actually an issue of faith, not fact. The king only has divine right to rule so long as his subjects believe in his divinity, the constitution of a country only matters if people believe it is a...
