Russia was not preordained to despotism nor to a clash with the West. So how did things go so wrong?
Gorbachev
Arms Control: When Biden Takes Office, Clock Will Be Ticking To Save New START Treaty
“The danger is that to get to the point of a new détente, we may have to go through a period when it will be pretty scary, and we are not there yet.”
What Trump’s Threat To End A U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Treaty Means For Putin
“For Russia’s military-industrial complex and security services, the INF Treaty was always like a bullfighter’s red cape; it symbolized the country’s defeat in the Cold War.”
How NATO Really Provoked Putin
From the Kremlin’s point of view, it’s infinitely worse to be ignored than to be considered a worthy rival.
For Europe, the Party’s Over. It’s Not Clear What Comes Next.
The promise of Europe is over. Paradoxically, German hubris carries a good deal of the blame.
Do You Suffer from Russophobia? The Kremlin Thinks You Might.
Ever since my first visit to Russia in 1991, Russians have asked me why I decided to learn their language and travel to their country. My answer was simple.
Why It’s So Hard for Germany to Lead on the Migrant Crisis – or Anything Else
In Germany, even the semantics of the word “to lead” — fuehren — are loaded because of associations with Adolf Hitler.
25 Years After Its Fall, Vladimir Putin Puts Berlin Wall’s Lessons Front and Center
Putin punished Ukrainians by dismembering their country not only because he saw a threat to his power. It was late revenge for the world he lost in 1989.
Don’t Tear Down This Wall
A quarter of a century after Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, a new generation of Berliners is taking to the streets to preserve it.
Happy Birthday, Viktor Tsoi
My first visit to Moscow in 1991 was a trip into a surreal world. Amid so much strangeness, I was hardly surprised to discover that the Soviet Union’s greatest rock star was, like me, half Korean.
