Translation: Muscovites Aren’t Hot for Navalny

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on July 10, 2013 .No Comments

Moskovsky Komsomolets’ Dmitry Katorzhnov takes a walk around Moscow to ask people what they feel about Navalny. The impressions he gets don’t promise anything good for his campaign. MK’s Poll: Most Muscovites don’t Want to Vote for Navalny Half of the respondents do not intend to go to the polls anyhow. On Wednesday, July 10 Alexey […]

The Kremlin Does A Very Clever Thing

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on January 4, 2013 .12 Comments

Lost in the furor and liberal butthurt over Depardieu’s defection has been a development of far greater import: Russia is going to cardinally change its elections system. According to Putin’s directive to the Presidential Administration and the Central Elections Committee, they are to come up with a bill that transforms Russia’s current proportional system to […]

Quick Impressions On Ukraine Elections 2012

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on October 29, 2012 .72 Comments

AP asks: No article about the Ukrainian parliamentary elections? Unfortunately, no, as I’m very busy this week. But some quick impressions: (1) My initial predictions for the elections. We’ll see how I do relative to about 70 other people soon enough. [tweet https://twitter.com/AnatolyKarlin/status/262371694809841666] (2) As the results came in, with PoR getting 37% of the […]

What Happened In Georgia Was An Oligarchic Coup

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for , on October 14, 2012 .29 Comments

My latest for US-Russia.org Expert Discussion Panel on whether to view the recent Georgian elections, in which Saakashvili’s United National Movement lost a lot of power, as a Kremlin coup or a triumph of democracy. My view that it isn’t really either: Two dominant themes prevailed in media coverage of the 2012 Georgian elections (1) The […]

A Quick Note On Venezuelan Elections

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on October 7, 2012 .16 Comments

Chavez won. The comprador candidate got sent packing. As, indeed, 80% of the pre-elections polls predicted. I fully expect the usual democratist presstitutes to cry foul in the coming days. Not because the Venezuelan elections were unfair – though they will doubtless be claimed to be so by the organs of imperialist propaganda like the […]

Natalia Zubarevich – The Four Russias

This , about Society, tagged , , , , was written by for on September 13, 2012 .14 Comments

Natalia Zubarevich’s concept of “The Four Russias” is one of the most reasoned and perceptive political analysis from the liberals, and as such I think it important enough to translate it (mostly I disagree with its core assumptions and conclusions though I do think it is a useful way of envisioning Russian politics). As such […]

Authoritarian Parallels

This about Politics, tagged , , , , , was written by for on August 30, 2012 .2 Comments

One of the main theses of this blog is that in many respects, Russia is far more similar to the the “West” (and vice versa) than various democratists would have you believe. Case in point (h/t Jon Hellevig): When GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited an Ohio coal mine this month to promote jobs in the […]

Why Obama Will Sooner Win

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on August 12, 2012 .No Comments

Ten months ago I bet a symbolic $10 on a Republican win. According to elections models and the bookies, it’s more likely than not that I’ve lost it. Not that I’m saddened by this development of course. (That said, if the economy slumps sharply in Q3, then a Romney win becomes entirely possible).

I’m Now A Libertarian :(

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for , on August 12, 2012 .6 Comments

At least in the context of the US Presidential elections according to this nifty quiz. Here are my detailed results for perusal for anyone interested. PS. Mitt Romney’s VP pick was a good one. Paulites however are (rightly) not convinced and I for one still favor Obama if with no particular enthusiasm. PPS. The real […]

Mexico Makes The Right Choice

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on July 3, 2012 .6 Comments

Two days ago, Mexicans returned the PRI to power after 12 years in the political wilderness, with Enrique Peña Nieto becoming President. The leftist Obrador as well as PAN’s Mota lost. I don’t know much about Mexico but this is how I interpret things. (1) The PAN seem to be full of neoliberals, who serve foreign […]

ECHR Rules 2003 Elections Fair, Derided As Kremlin Flunkies By Liberals

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on June 22, 2012 .1 Comment

According to the press release (PDF) regarding the recent judgment, the issues considered by the ECHR as regarding complaints about the 2003 Russian Duma elections were the (1) the opposition’s access to an “effective remedy” to complain about media bias in favor of United Russia; and (2) that the media’s aforementioned bias prejudged the fairness […]

Nils van der Vegte – The Political Crisis in the Netherlands: The Rise of the Reds?

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on April 24, 2012 .6 Comments

Da Russophile readers will probably know of Nils van der Vegte. He is a Dutch scholar currently based in Arkhangelsk who runs the site Russia Watchers (with Joera Mulders), with whom I did a co-translation of an article on emigration to Belarus. He also has some strong opinions about politics in his native Netherlands. This […]