Tag: Ukraine

‘I longed for the moment you would write’: The Gulag penpals whose love lasted 60 years

Kasia Delgado First posted September 7, 2019 Vladimir was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labour. Ivanna was Prisoner 108, and his secret correspondent. She looks back on a love affair with a man she never met In 1953, a young Ivanna Maszczak trudged through the Siberian labour camp in which she was serving a 10-year… Read More ‘I longed for the moment you would write’: The Gulag penpals whose love lasted 60 years

Dilip

Ukraine war shows it’s time to do away with the racist ‘Clash of Civilizations’ theory

By Katherine Bullock “The clash of civilizations,” wrote the late American political scientist Samuel Huntington in a famous 1993 article, “will dominate global politics.” He predicted: “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Picked apart by critics for conceptual and empirical errors, the tragedy of 9/11 breathed new life… Read More Ukraine war shows it’s time to do away with the racist ‘Clash of Civilizations’ theory

Dilip

Slavoj Zizek and the Terminal Collapse of the Anti-War Left. By Jonathan Cook

The US has 800 military bases around the world. The rest of the world has 30 outside of its own borders.   Washington learned a hard lesson from the unpopularity of its 2003 attack on Iraq aimed at controlling more of the Middle East’s oil reserves. Ordinary people do not like seeing the public coffers ransacked… Read More Slavoj Zizek and the Terminal Collapse of the Anti-War Left. By Jonathan Cook

Dilip

Olexandra Povoroznyk: Tsars, spies and colonialism

Colourful onion-domed churches capped with sparkling snow, seductive spies in lavish mink coats, dancing bears, strong-willed revolutionaries…we see these tropes everywhere. They feature in Netflix shows such as Shadow and Bone, in Marvel blockbusters, gritty Cold War-inspired thrillers, and children’s animated films like Anastasia. Western pop-culture’s fascination with Russia – or, rather, with a simplified… Read More Olexandra Povoroznyk: Tsars, spies and colonialism

Dilip

Russia’s working class and Ukraine: hope for an end to expansionism? / ‘Warmongering, lies and hatred’: Russian diplomat in Geneva resigns

More than 70 years ago, Allied victory in the Second World War brought with it a powerful wave of hatred for all things German. Since the end of the war, the Germans repeatedly accepted responsibility for their actions. They made reparations to the Allied nations and lifelong compensation payments to concentration camp survivors. Nevertheless, it… Read More Russia’s working class and Ukraine: hope for an end to expansionism? / ‘Warmongering, lies and hatred’: Russian diplomat in Geneva resigns

Dilip

Alexei Yurchak on why Putin hates Lenin and how today’s Russia resembles the late Soviet Union

‘It’s impossible for the system not to change’    While waging war on Ukraine, the Russian state has intensified its already tight control over the Internet, press, and opposition at home. Meanwhile, the anti-war opposition has resorted to what are essentially guerilla tactics. Many politicians, journalists, and activists were forced to leave the country to avoid… Read More Alexei Yurchak on why Putin hates Lenin and how today’s Russia resembles the late Soviet Union

Dilip

Richard Wolffe: The Role of Capitalism in the War in Ukraine

To the motives for war in human history, capitalism added another: profit. That motive drove technological advancement and created a genuine world economy. It also built new capitalist empires such as the Spanish, Dutch, British, French, Belgian, Russian, German, Japanese, and American empires. Each of these countries built its empire by various means including wars… Read More Richard Wolffe: The Role of Capitalism in the War in Ukraine

Dilip