Science in Russia and the Soviet Union: Book Review, Overview of Scientists and Discoveries
One has only to look at the current debate over stem cell research in the USA to understand how science, even today, is shaped by…
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The Rediscovery of the “Russian World”
During the last few weeks, the term “russkiy mir,” which can roughly be translated as “Russian world,” suddenly gained increasing prominence. It became the center…
Pride 2007: The State of Moscow’s Gay Movement
When I first arrived at Tverskaya Square just after noon on May 27th, all I could see were police uniforms. The police and OMON, the…
A Comparative Look at Hate Crime in Russia and the U.S.
In recent years, as an important issue in foreign relations between the United States and Russia, the United States has focused on bringing attention to…
Rejecting Professional Medicine in Contemporary Russia
The rejection of professional medical care (except for acute cases demanding urgent or specific treatment) has become common in contemporary Russia (Maximova 2002, Rose 2000)….
Layers of Identity: Self-identity in U.S. child immigrants from the former Soviet Union
Geography and history have made Russian identity hard to define. Russia spans both Europe and Asia and is split between East and West. The Soviet-era…
Empire, Nationalities, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Michael Doyle defines empires as follows: “Empires are relationships of political control imposed by some political societies over the effective sovereignty of other political societies.”[1]…
Security Forces Sweep Bishkek Clean
Bishkek entered its ninth straight day of protests on April 19 with the promise by opposition leaders to dramatically increase the number of demonstrators in…
Blind in Siberia
“Relax every muscle right now, or you’ll break some bones!” The voice inmy head bounced through my body as I started sliding down the two…
Languages in Conflict: The Case of Russia and Estonia
On a park bench in Moscow, I befriended a lively group of young actors from Tallinn, Estonia. They had come to Russia three years earlier…
Kyrgyzstan’s Latest Revolution
The March 2005 overthrow of President Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan did not immediately revolutionize Kyrgyz politics. The Kyrgyz people initially heralded their “Tulip Revolution,” but…
From Vixen to Victim: The Sensationalization and Normalization of Prostitution in Post-Soviet Russia
Since the height of its popularity in the mid-1990s, the Moscow nightclub “Golodnaya Utka,” or “The Hungry Duck,” has been dubbed “Moscow’s first rape camp.”[1]…
Russian Political Culture Since 1985
The traditional view of Russian political culture has been that, due to historical experience, Russians have favored strong autocratic rule. After nearly seventy years of…
Georgia’s Young Ministers and Younger Democracy
When discussing Georgia, most Americans (if they realize you are not talking about Atlanta) will laud the democratic achievements of that former soviet republic. To…
Life with Aids in Rural Russia: A Photo Essay
On 1 December 2005, life took a dramatic turn for 25-year-old, HIV-positive Svetlana Izambaeva. Svetlana, who lives in the small Russian city of Cheboksari, was…
Russia Day Evolves
Russia Day is one of the country’s newest holidays and many are still at a loss as to how it should be celebrated. However, the…
Russian Bill on NGOs to Become Law
Moscow – President Vladimir Putin, responding to the international public outcry surrounding Russia’s proposed law on NGOs, issued an executive opinion on the bill that,…
Disillusionment on the Grandest of Scales: Finnish-Americans in the Soviet Union, 1917-1939
From the time of the Russian Revolution onward, the Bolsheviks were often portrayed in mainstream American media as the “enemy.”[1] Many Americans, however, chose to…
The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia
The history of Russia has always been a relatively sad and tumultuous one wrought with wars, power struggles, and abrupt changes. These changes have often…
The Impending Price of Ignorance: Demographic Politics of Sexual Education in Russia in Post-Soviet Russia
In the context of escalating international speculation as to the determining factors behind Russia’s demographic crisis, the HIV epidemic is lent increasingly heightened significance. Such…