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Russia’s plan for the United States
The goal of the Kremlin, along with that of the high-tech oligarchs, is to create an irreversible situation in the United States by making it ungovernable.
The Lessons of Trumpism for Europeans: How to Avoid a ‘Self-Putinization’ of the EU
The historian explains the intellectual origins of Trumpism and suggests urgent measures to take.
From Lenin to Putin: One Hundred and Seven Years of Malfeasance
Since the Bolshevik coup d'état of 1917, Lenin and his comrades have been working out the principles of relations with the outside world: destabilizing the international order through propaganda and disinformation; penetrating the institutions of capitalist countries in order to weaken them from within; exploiting the rapacity of capitalists...
Let Us Not Falter at the Last Minute
The Russian economy, including its military-industrial complex, is showing signs of exhaustion. It would be unfortunate if the West were to give in to the pressure of the peacemakers, while the Moscow autocracy itself is at the end of its rope.
Subverting Elites and Manipulating the Masses: how Russian Interference Corrupts American Politics
Russian political culture has already permeated some American political circles. Fortunately, American opinion remains overwhelmingly pro-Kyiv, as does the Republican establishment.
On China as a Proxy for Russia-Eurasia: Lies and Historical Approximations in Chinese Geopolitical Discourse
In Europe, people are finally recognizing the depth of the Beijing-Moscow strategic axis, the driving force behind anti-Western dynamics and imperialist resentment.
Russian Expansionism: Enduring Goals and Recurring Methods
Russia's messianic, expansionist and militarist propensity is inseparable from the autocratic matrix of Russian power.
The Great Russian Pretence
The Russian propaganda discourse resonates with certain conservatives. Our author looks at the way in which, far from defending a European “civilization”, the Putin regime has transformed into an “eschatological sect”.
On Mourning, with Sigmund Freud
Here, the author delivers another installment in her "anti-fascist library", which helps us to understand our world by drawing on works from the past. This time, she revisits Sigmund Freud's Mourning and Melancholy. According to Olga Medvedkova, Soviet power deprived the population of the opportunity to mourn their loved...
When Soft Power Turns Hard
The Ukrainian political scientist calls on the West to be lucid, because Russian propagandists are using culture to give a more “humane” image to the genocidal barbarity of the Putin regime.
The Persistent Western Denial of Ukraine’s European Identity and its Consequences
Western perceptions of Ukraine have been influenced by Russian “imperial knowledge”. The long non-recognition of Ukraine’s Europeanness by Europe has strengthened Russian ambitions.
Where is the Will of the West?
In the confrontation between the West and Russia which started on February 24, 2022, the West and Ukraine had everything they needed to win: economic resources far superior to Russia's, a technological edge in military capabilities, and last but not least, the international law on their side. Despite this,...
Ukraine’s War and Challenges of Decolonization
Why western “political realists” are wrong about the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war which is in fact a “culture war”, and is all about history and identity. In fact, this war has shaken the academic world, writes one of the best Ukrainian political analysts, Mykola Riabchuk.
The Russian war in...
They Made Putinism: Mikhail Lesin (1958-2015) from Russia Today to Hollywood
Vladimir Putin did not conceive and build Putinism alone. This is the fifth part of the series "They made Putinism", written for Desk Russia by historian Cécile Vaissié. Dubbed by some as "enemy number 1 of Russia's independent media", Mikhail Lesin played a decisive role in reshaping the media...
They Made Putinism: Alfred Koch, the man of Privatizations and NTV
Vladimir Putin did not create and build Putinism alone. Historian Cécile Vaissié presents in Desk Russie the fourth part of her series "They made Putinism". This time, she tells the story of a man who has the reputation of "speaking the truth" without mincing his words. You might also...
They Made Putinism: Gleb Pavlovsky (1951-2023), the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the Green Jacket
After her portrait of Vladislav Sourkov, the Kremlin's éminence grise, historian Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russia the second part of her series "They made Putinism". Indeed, other people than Vladimir Putin have, with him, designed and built Putinism, and made it work. One of the main "builders" of Putinism,...
Vladislav Surkov, the “Aesthete” of the Shadows
A great expert on post-Soviet Russia, Professor Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russie the beginning of her series "They made Putinism", and the first part is devoted to one of the key figures of the regime, Vladislav Surkov. When Ukrainians say that not Putin alone wages war on them, since...
Understanding Uprooting: With Charlotte Beradt
The art historian and writer Olga Medvedkova delivers the second part of her “little library of antifascism” to tell us about the fate of the “uprooted”. Not only of emigrants, but also of those who remain in their homeland invaded by Evil — whether Hitler’s Germany or Putin’s Russia...
How to Move from the Russian World to the Russian State: Building an Alternative to the Apocalypse
A paradoxical consensus has formed in recent weeks In Ukraine, Russia and the West: the war will be long and it will require considerable effort on the part of belligerents and their allies. This consensus is based on a symmetrical assumption on both sides. Kremlin leaders and their propagandists...
Nezalezhnist — On Zelensky’s Style
French art historian and writer of Russian origin, Olga Medvedkova analyzes the essence of Zelensky's style and the exemplary courage of the Ukrainians. Where does this greatness of soul, combined with humor and fearlessness, come from?
On September 11, Volodymyr Zelensky broadcast on the Telegram network a video of the...