Tag Archives: Soviet Union

The Rise of Decline

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Lee

You know you’re in an American recession when British observers start reflecting on the inevitability of American decline, and volunteering their allegedly privileged perspective gained from the fall of the British Empire (Mark Steyn, as always, excepted). So it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic Politics, History | Tagged 1960s, 1970s, 1987, American decline, American power, Americans, Barack Obama, British Empire, Declinism, foreign policy, futurism, hegemony, London Times, Matthew Parris, Obama, Paul Kennedy, recession, retirement home, Richard Nixon, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Soviet Union, United States | Leave a comment

The West as Nuclear Proliferator

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Lee

(NYT) The New York Times has a fascinating little chart today, illustrating the primary sources of nuclear weapons proliferation over time. In looking at the diagram, one cannot escape the overall impression that until recently the West has been the … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign affairs, Technology | Tagged Africa, Asia, authoritarianism, chart, China, civic culture, communications, democracy, diagram, DPRK, eastern bloc, English, espionage, former soviet republics, government, individualism, infographic, lingua franca, military intelligence, networks, New York Times, North Korea, nucelar research, nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons, political dissent, prc, proliferation risk, rogue states, Russia, scientific community, Soviet Union, Technology, technology transfer, trade, translation services, Transportation, USSR, western democracy | Leave a comment

A Solution to the Financial Crisis? Sharia!

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Lee

Italian economist Loretta Napoleoni (of Rogue Economics fame), blames the lingering financial crisis in part on the American War on Terrorism, which inaugurated an allegedly “suspicious attitude…toward Muslim investors.” She goes further though, and argues that the only solution to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Tagged academia, academics, bankers, banking, case studies, clients, despotism, dictatorship, Economics, finance, financial crisis, gendr, home loans, islam, Islamic finance, Italian, Loretta Napoleoni, married women, marxism, Marxist, medieval, militarims, Muslim, North Korea, property rights, rogue economics, scholars, sharia, social responsibility, Somalia, Soviet Union, UNM, Vermont, War on Terrorism, women | 2 Comments

A Shattered Idol in the Black Garden

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Lee

(photo: Rahim Alizadeh) In Verdi’s opera Nabucco –the namesake of the western gas pipeline to Europe that holds the promise of partial independence from Russian energy reliance– the Jewish patriots take the daughter of the Babylonian king hostage, in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page | Tagged Abkhazia, administration, Aliyev, Armenia, Artur Rasizade, Azerbaijani, Azeris, Babylon, Baku, black garden, Boris Yeltsin, Clinton, crypto-fascism, Denena, Dick Cheney, Dmitry Medvedev, Elmar Mammadyarov, energy, ethnic, Europe, Henry Kissinger, hostage, imports, Iran, Jerusalem, Karabakh, King, Kommersant, Medvedev, miltiarism, Moscow, Nabucco, Nabucco pipeline, Nagorno-Karabakh, natural gas, opera, OSI, Persia, petrocracy, Rahim Alizadeh, Russia, security, South Ossetia, Soviet Union, United States, Verdi, Washington, Yagub Eyubov | Leave a comment

So Ends the Kouchner Adventure

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Lee

Russia wants Saakashvili gone and then categorically rejects the French ceasefire agreement Saakashvili signed. Even while the increasingly uncomfortable Medvedev says they’re all but finished with military operations. The humiliating exposure of Medvedev’s “presidency” is one of the more comical … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page | Tagged Cold War, Estonia, Europe, foreign policy, French, IBM, Javier Solana, Kouchner, Russia, Saakashvili, South Ossetia, Soviet Union, Tbilisi, Toomas Hendrik Ilves | 1 Comment

Life Under Stalinism

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Lee

Video clip of victims of the Terror recounting their experiences at the hands of the secret police. The levity that many exhibit in revisiting the systematic decimation of human dignity they experienced, is the ageless strength of Russia as a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Lee's Page | Tagged documentary, Eric Bogosian, Great Terror, History, secret police, Soviet Union, Stalin, stalinism, victims, video, youtube, Zareh Tjeknavorian | Leave a comment

China & Russia: Models and Modalities

Posted on August 3, 2008 by Lee

Francis Fukuyama chats with Robert Kagan on a number of interesting things: Flash | WMV | MP3 (via: The American Interest). Of immediate interest is Kagan’s notion that the the emergence of global multipolarity induces an imperfect, baseline bipolarity of … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page | Tagged authoritarianism, bipolarity, Burma, Calvin Coolidge, China, China Model, Cuban Revolution, diplomacy, eastern, flash, Francis Fukuyama, imperial, internationalism, Kremlin, Lenin, Mao, Moscow, mp3, multipoliarity, nationalism, Nikolai Bukharin, oligarchy, power, revolution, Robert Kagan, Russia, russocentrism, sinocentrism, Soviet, Soviet Union, Stalin, tibet, Trotsky, Tsarist, unification, vassal states, video, western, Zimbabwe | 3 Comments

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn R.I.P.

Posted on August 3, 2008 by Lance

The impact of this man on the world is not part of the memory of many today. I’ll be breaking out a few of his books this week in his memory. A true Giant has passed away. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, History, Lance's Page, Religion and theology | Tagged Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, communism, Russia, Soviet Union | 1 Comment

Hot Water and Civilization in Ukraine

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Lee

In much of the former Soviet Union, urban heating is still managed at the block rather than per-building level. This is causing some protest from a population growing accustomed to a new ethos of individual convenience. Something we’ve always taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged BBC, central planning, convenience, heating, hot water, Soviet Union, Ukraine, urban, video, water | Leave a comment

Deceptive Introductions

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Lee

Isn’t it unfortunate when a truly awful movie has a truly spectacular intro.

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged Cold War, intro, Moscow, movie, Red Heat, Soviet Union, video, youtube | Leave a comment

Brezhnev Rap

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Lee

Fabulous video of scenes in the Soviet Union in 1983. From the author: “We entered Moscow with a tourist visa, a tiny super8 camera, b/w film material and a nice piece of hashish. we wanted to know how Moscow did … Continue reading →

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged 1983, film, hashish, Leonid Brezhnev, Moscow, movie, rap, Soviet Union, super8, youtube | Leave a comment

Savimbi Gets Robbed

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Lee

The tomb of Jonas Savimbi in Moxico has been looted by graverobbers. A number of items were stolen including his bronze epitaph. A bit of a sad addendum for the former US ally and UNITA leader who had battled the … Continue reading →

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged Angola, Angolan Civil War, Cold War, Cuba, epitaph, Jonas Savimbi, Maoist, Marxist, Moxico, MPLA, Soviet Union, tactics, UNITA, US, Vice Presidency | Leave a comment

Top 10 Scariest Moments in Soviet Cinema

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Lee

Some are scary, some aren’t. The last one is pretty terrifying. Video Clip

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged films, horror, movies, scary, soviet cinema, Soviet Union, top 10, youtube | Leave a comment

Soviet Disney World Reborn

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Lee

With the red stars back on the MiGs, criticism of the government illegal and dissident arrests again in fashion, Soviet reversion is all the rage in Russia. Jim Hill revealed a couple of days ago that apparently Disney is in … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign affairs, History, Lee's Page, Uncategorized | Tagged authoritarianism, communism, Disney, Epcot, Putin, Russia, Soviet Union | Leave a comment

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