Before Soviet rule, Georgian capital Tbilisi had none of the towering blocks, highways and marble palaces that today stand as symbols to a fallen, rejected regime. Why, therefore have Georgia’s young leaders chosen to continue this imposing neo-classical language in their own buildings, asks Pawel
Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Communist Party is enjoying a mini-revival as a channel for popular discontent with the government. But its leadership is too rooted in the past and concerned with retaining control of the party to exploit this advantage, says Vladimir G
Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili has announced he is entering politics, and seemingly in direct opposition to the current Georgian leadership. His philanthropic work has earned him many admirers, but whether he will be given the chance to fulfil his political ambitions is quite another thi
Notions of right and left have been muddled througout Russian history. The Soviet Communists professed left-wing slogans, but practised right-wing ideologies, embracing a neo-feudalist and unfree order. Russia’s politicians continue that duality today. For Poel Karp, what Russia desperately needs
Occupying power while showing no intent to take possession of it, faithful servant Dmitry Medvedev could not have been more obliging to his master. Yet handing back power in such circumstances will be painful for the still-young president. His embitterment may yet play out in interesting ways, wri
Russia's ruling tandem have hung their economic policy high up on a mast: oil prices will hold, they say … and, well, even if they do drop, dwindling reserves should just about cover it. As ex-Finance Minister Kudrin realised, this is a foolish game that runs the risk of total catastrophe, writes
Russian political observers have been titillated by Medvedev’s announcement that he will not be running for president. But what were they expecting? Andrei Konchalovsky was under no illusions: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
A WWII mass grave was recently found in western Ukraine, pointing to a horrific massacre. Yet with German bullet casings unearthed and evidence pointing to Nazis as perpetrators, Ivan Katchanovski asks why the dominant theory to emerge is of Soviets murdering Poles.
A controversial new book by a Ukrainian historian attempts to reclassify cruel Polish-Ukrainian conflicts of the 1940s as part of WWII, rather than local issues. He has encountered considerable opposition on both sides, writes Roman Kabachiy
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A failed economic model and falling transit subsidies from Russia have propelled the Belarusian economy to the brink. The harsh reality of stopgap sales and emergency loans that awaits will only delay the inevitable, writes David Marples.
The great battles waged on behalf of democracy in the 20th century have ended in crisis, proposes the painter and novelist Maxim Kantor. Shares in ‘democracy’ have crashed, while globalisation has led to the rise of a new super-rich lumpen elite which does not even notice that the world is on fire
