Posts tagged: russia

Reclaiming Lenin

For the centenary of Vladimir Lenin's death, Paweł Wargan revisits Lenin's revolutionary thought and shows how Lenin can help us navigate our political conditions today.
Understanding Russia: a Verso Reading List

Perspectives on Russia's history and the wider geopolitical landscape, featuring Tony Wood, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ilya Budraitskis, and more.
Remarks on Recent Events in Ukraine: A Provisional Statement

David Harvey on the long-term causes of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Should We Have Seen This Coming? -Ilya Budraitskis on the Invasion of Ukraine

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we spoke with Ilya Budraitskis about the political context of the attack, Putin’s military and political goals in the short and long term, and the response so far from the Russian citizenry. Why were so many on the Left surprised by the extent of the military action, and, finally, how might we express solidarity right now?
Left-wing dissidents were the link between the pre-soviet and socialist tradition and the post-soviet one

Ilyia Budraitskis on the turning points in the development of the left dissident movement and the various streams and faces of the left in post-Soviet Russia.
The Genealogy of Russian Anti-Americanism - Ilya Budraitskis

Ilya Budraitskis examines the flawed foundations on which Russian Anti-American sentiment was built.
Five book plan: The making of Putin’s Russia

As Vladimir Putin attempts to extend his grip on power into the future, Tony Wood, author of new-in-paperback Russia Without Putin, picks out five books that will help us think about how Russia works, and where Putin's power came from in the first place.
Tony Wood interviewed by the Real News Network

In what many analysts saw as a test for Vladimir Putin's rule, the Moscow election was a setback of sorts, but the opposition's orientation towards capitalism undermines its own anti-corruption platform, says Tony Wood.
Tony Wood Interviewed on Jacobin's The Dig

An interview with Tony Wood on the current state of Russia-US relations, and the West's misguided obsession with Putin.
Stalinism in a British Accent

HBO's new miniseries Chernobyl, a gloomy and lyrical historical drama that tells the story of the catastrophic explosion of a nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine in 1986, has taken the unusual decision to cast a nearly all British cast of actors. Why does Stalinism seem so plausible in a British accent, and what does that say about the parallels between contemporary Britain and the USSR?
Interview with Tony Wood

Tony Wood, author of Russia Without Putin, interviewed on Sean's Russia Blog podcast.
To remember is to fight: the legacy of Russian activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov

Ten years ago this month, Russian human rights advocate and journalist Stanislav Markelov was shot and killed by a Russian ultranationalist Nikita Tikhonov on a busy Moscow street. The aftermath of the murder helped to bring to light the collusion between the Russian state and the nexus of ultranationalist groups responsible for Stanislav Markelov's killing. In this article Thomas Rowley and Guiliano Vivaldi analyse the events that lead up to the murder, and Markelov's incredible work fighting for the oppressed in Russia.