Walter C Uhler » Russian History
Igor Sutyagin and I. F. Stone: Spies?
A Review of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, by John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev My first and only meeting with Igor Sutyagin occurred on 7 September 1998, in what was then the Taiga Café of Moscow’s Aerostar Hotel. A senior scholar in the Department for Military-Political Studies at the Institute for the USA and Canada Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sutyagin was given the task of dining with an American “People to People” delegation – of which I was a member – and briefing its members on the economic crisis ravaging Russia since its catastrophic default just three weeks earlier. Although we peppered Igor with questions about Russia’s economic collapse, his answers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Book Reviews, Russian History
Yuli Vorontsov: An Appreciation
In December 13, 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced the death, the previous day, of former Soviet and Russian Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov: “The diplomatic talent of Yuli M. Vorontsov was conspicuous in every endeavor entrusted to him.” The product of a sophisticated culture, Vorontsov brilliantly displayed his “sharp intellect, high professionalism, gift for negotiations, encyclopedic knowledge and subtle understanding of the countries to which he was assigned.” The New York Times properly credited Mr. Vorontsov for his “roles in some of the watershed events in the cold war, from arms talks with Washington to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, where he was ambassador when Soviet troops withdrew in 1988 and 1989.” [New York Times, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Russian History
Foxbats over Dimona: Revisionist History or Marvelous (Zionist) Fantasy?
Forty years ago today, on June 5, 1967, Israel launched a devastating preemptive strike on its Arab neighbors that marked the beginning of the Six-Day War. The war’s outcome proved to be a significant turning point in the history of the Middle East because, as William Roger Louis has observed, “the consequences of Israeli victory extend to the present.” In his definitive study, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael B. Oren observed that, by late 1966, “The conflict between the Arab countries and the Israelis, between Arab countries themselves and between the U.S. and the USSR – exacerbated by domestic tensions in each – had created an atmosphere of extreme flammability. In … Read entire article »
Filed under: History, Russian History
Inciting a New Cold War: Hypocritical U.S. Views about Russia’s Democracy
To be presented at the 16th Annual Russian-American Seminar, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia, May 15-22, 2007 Speaking to the United States Senate Appropriations subcommittee last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice commented upon the “difficult period” afflicting recent Russian-American relations. She asserted, “the Russians, I think, do not accept fully that our relations with countries that are their neighbors, that once were part of the Soviet Union, are quite honestly good relations between independent states and the United States. Had she been more forthright and understanding, however, she would have acknowledged that the U.S. “does not accept fully” the pursuit of “good relations between independent states” in its back yard. It’s called the Monroe Doctrine Moreover, and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Foreign Policy, Russian History
Stinky Inky, Part VI: Carlin Romano’s April Fools’ Joke on His Philadelphia Inquirer Readers
Judging by his article, “Russia’s culturati a pale imitation of worthies of ‘Utopia,’” Carlin Romano and the editors of Philadelphia Inquirer have conspired to subject their readers to an infantile April Fools’ Day joke. Thus, readers of the April 1, 2007 issue of the “Inky” might be forgiven, if, after reading Romano’s review of Tom Stoppard’s 3-part play, The Coast of Utopia, they had no better understanding of 19th century Russian intellectual history than they had before falling for his joke. The real joke, however, concerns Mr. Romano’s apparent ignorance of 19th century Russian intellectual history. It seems to be no more informed than that held by the woman I encountered on February 24, 2007, during the intermission of the third play of Stoppard’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cultural Criticism, Russian History
Gorbachev Calls Cheney a “Durak” (fool, idiot)
It was Friday evening, May 19, 2006. My spouse (Carol DePrisco) and I were dining at Barron – the house restaurant of St. Petersburg’s recently refurbished Petro Palace Hotel (located on Malaya Morskaya street, just one block east of St. Issac’s Cathedral and two blocks west of bustling Nevsky Prospect). We were dining with a retired professor of English from St. Petersburg State University. At the very outset of our conversation, the professor inquired: “You are not a Republican, are you?” I assured her I wasn’t, thus breaking the ice for a very pleasant and engaging conversation during dinner and afterward in our spacious hotel suite. Nevertheless, she was quite astounded by my immense admiration for Mikhail Gorbachev, disdain for Boris Yeltsin and concern … Read entire article »
Filed under: Russian History
Russian Identity and the Prospects for Democracy in Putin’s Russia
Paper to be presented at the 15th Annual Russian-American Seminar May 16-23, 2006, St. Petersburg State University St. Petersburg, Russia Introduction A few years ago, severely disillusioned by the failure of most Americans to doubt the exaggerations and lies told about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda by the administration of President George W. Bush, I turned to reading books by such prominent thinkers as Walter Lippmann, Walter Karp and Robert Wiebe to try to understand where America’s experiment in democracy went wrong. The result was a warmly received article, Democracy or dominion, that was republished in a college textbook (Annual Editions: World Politics 05/06), after initially appearing in the January 2004 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (Copies are available … Read entire article »
Filed under: Russian History
The Nation: Editor's Picks
- Romney's Cowardly Speech on the Deficit May 15, 2012 Ben Adler
- Did Obama Endorse Gay Marriage for Political Reasons? Good. May 15, 2012 Ari Melber
- The Criminalization of Rape Victims May 15, 2012 Salamishah Tillet