Russia’s message to the wider Islamic world is one of peace, cooperation and respect. Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan is often thought of as a symbol of conservative multiculturalism, something distinct from the radical forced acculturation which has caused social tensions in Europe and the United States. In the Kazan Kremlin (citadel),…
In an extraordinary moment this week, Russian leader Vladimir Putin offered Washington a challenge to discover the truth over sensational US media claims that President Trump had leaked top-secret information to Russia. Washington rebuffed Putin’s offer. It was akin to the iconic scene in the sci-fi movie, The Matrix, in which protagonists are offered a…
History will record the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing marked the juncture where the 21st century New Silk Roads assumed their full character of Globalization 2.0, or “inclusive globalization,” as defined by President Xi Jinping in Davos earlier this year. I have dealt with the monumental stakes here and here. Terminology, of course, remains a minor…
US politicians and media have evidently become so unhinged from Russian conspiracy theory, they are perhaps best treated with the mockery they deserve. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Washington this week to discuss serious global issues with his American counterpart Rex Tillerson. Instead of asking the pair about the Syrian conflict or the danger of nuclear war breaking out on…
Is Vladimir Putin the most popular Russian leader of all time? It certainly looks like it. In a recent survey conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center, Putin’s public approval rating soared to an eye-popping 86 percent, which is twice that of Obama’s when he left office in 2016. And what’s more surprising is that Putin’s popularity has held up through a severe economic slump and…
In the end, there was hardly a reset; rather a sort of tentative pause on Cold War 2.0. Interminable days of sound and fury were trudging along when President Trump finally decided NATO is “no longer obsolete”; still, he wants to “get along” with Russia. Just ahead of meeting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow, President…
