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Improving Russia's Image and Russo-Ukrainian Relations
Russia's dynamic duo performing this past January 1, on Russian TV station Channel One Options and Opposing Views Russia's expatriate population is the subject of Alexei Bayer's recent article in The Moscow Times. He ends the article with a...
Several Foreign Policy and Media Takes
A spoof on the 19th century Anglo-Russo "Great Game" rivalry in Central Asia An October 13 RT (no longer officially known as Russia Today) segment discussed some international issues regarding Afghanistan and Russia. The following viewpoint is expressed in...
The Russo-Polish History Coverage and Some Related Matters
Prime ministers Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Donald Tusk (Poland) Several recent occurrences, in conjunction with each other, have been contributing factors to the increased commentary about the history between Russia and Poland. The recent instances include: this past August's...
Another Look at Mikhalkov and the "Denikinist State"
Nikita Mikhalkov and Anton Denikin Whether rightly or wrongly, some opinions receive more sympathy than others. As is true with other matters, this observation pertains to the English language mass media coverage of the former Soviet Union. Russian actor,...
World Russia Forum 2009 Photo Report
View of the Capitol dome in the sunrise from room 902 of the Hart Senate office building. Due to extended travel I only recently had the chance to go through pictures taken during the World Russia Forum 2009 in...
Follow-up on the Former Moldavian SSR Commentary
Michael Averko addressing the guests of the World Russia Forum in Washington D.C. Last month's parliamentary election and political demonstration in Moldova led to greater attention focused on that country. A few relatively high placed articles on the subject...
At the Crossroads of Strategic Pipeline Corridors:
Settling the Dispute Over Nagorno-Karabakh
This is the author's updated version of the article that appeared in Global Research on March 31 and Eurasian Home on April 1. When compared to the other disputed former Soviet territories of Pridnestrovie (also referred to as Transnistria,...
Resolving the Former Moldavian SSR Dispute
My last American Chronicle article ("Update on the Former Moldavian SSR Dispute," Dec. 31) on the meeting between the leaders of Moldova and Pridnestrovie (also referred to as Transnistria, Transdniestria, Transdnestr and Trans-Dniester) relates to the issue of how...
Missives About Russian Ice Hockey
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) web site has interesting information about a popular winter sport. Below is a breakdown of the number of male ice hockey players in each of the leading ice hockey playing countries (the women's...
How Kosovo Factors Into Russo-American Relations
By Michael Averko Map of Kosovo and the former Republic of Yugoslavia This past Friday (Nov. 3), I attended a panel discussion on Kosovo at Columbia University's Harriman Institute in New York City. The event was sponsored by the Njegos...
My Favorite Russian Chochkas
By Michael Averko A symbol of victory: Soviet T-34 tank on static display Born into a culturally aware multi-ethnic family and neighborhood, I grew up in an environment where many words from different languages became part of the language in...
Russian Orthodox Church Unites
By Michael Averko Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior - destroyed by Stalin in 1931, painstakingly restored in the 1990s Last week saw the formal unification of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Moscow-based ROC. Since the...
Coverage of Intolerance in Russia and Abroad
By Michael Averko African and Russian students protest neo-fascist violence The following commentary originally appeared in the Sunday, May 7, edition of Johnson's Russia List. Two classic and different approaches highlight the diverse manner in how Russia is covered. One...
Ukraine's First Lady and the Ugly History of the Captive Nations Committee
By Michael Averko Katherine and Viktor Yushchenko I've been holding on to a piece of history which was forwarded to me by an informed and trusted source. It's an August 23, 1983 Washington Times letter by Katherine Chumachenko, who is...
A Primer on Yulia Tymoshenko
By Michael Averko A Ukrainian-American acquaintance of mine recently likened Ukrainian political figure Yulia Tymoshenko to a Stalinist because the name of her party (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) has a cult of personality aspect. I nevertheless shy away from the loaded...
Orange Government Punishes Trans-Dniester
MOLDOVA UPDATE: SEVERAL ISSUES AT PLAY By Michael Averko Flags of Moldova (left) and Trans-Dniester (right) Shortly after the March 1st, Russia Blog feature Moldova, MiGs and Former Defense Ministers, the Ukrainian "Orange" government of President Viktor Yushchenko announced what...
Moldova, MiGs and former Defense Ministers
Introduction: The Washington Post had an opinion article last week on the conviction of the former Defense Minister of Moldova on corruption charges. E. Wayne Merry, a former assistant to President Clinton's Secretary of Defense William Cohen, argues that...
Second Week Olympic Notes
By Michael Averko Following up on the last Averko's Russia Report of February 19 which commented on the first week of the Turin Olympics - I can't help but make a correllation between subjective sports like figure skating and the...
American Response to Upcoming Rada Vote
By Michael Averko An open ended issue is prevalent on how America will deal with East Ukrainian political leader Viktor Yanukovych's likely resurgence in the Ukrainian body politic. Keep in mind that American foreign policy elites are preoccupied with...
An Overview of Russia Today
By Michael Averko Yuri Mamchur's December 12 Russia Blog commentary "Russia Today Goes On, Then Off the Air" confirms my reservations about Russia Today (the just launched 24/7 Russian government funded English language television news network) which were stated this...
Bad Jokes, A New Think Tank & Some Pointed Comments
By Michael Averko Last week, The Moscow Times and the Carnegie Endowment's Andrew Kuchins combined for a bad joke, when the former uncritically cited the latter's "concern" about whether a Russian government funded think tank could be objective (see the...
On Being Russian
By Michael Averko There has been considerable discussion of such terms as Russocentric, Russophobic and Russophilic within the more academic spheres of English language analysis about Russia. This has led me to another comment on the very matter of what...
Some Double Standards Appear More Equal Than Others
By Michael Averko Latvian commentator Askolds Rodins refers to Russian "double standards" as he sees it. Permit me to address the greater double standards that regularly go unchecked from English language mass media outlets. Namely, how Russocentric views are kept...
Yanukovych's Resurgence Should Come As No Surprise
By Michael Averko Not too long ago, it was fashionable to write off Donetsk-based Ukrainian political leader Viktor Yanukovych as an also-ran whose time had come and gone. What many overlooked was the topsy-turvy political landscape of post- Soviet Ukraine,...
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