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International Relations

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Autistic Obsessions
•�May 21, 2021
•�300 Words •�170 Comments
It's a little commented fact, but one that is true nonetheless, that Russian relations with Israel are better than with almost any Western country. Open visa regime. No sanctions over Crimea, an attitude largely of mutual studied indifference as regards Ukraine and Palestine, respectively. Open to Sputnik V vaccine. Criticized Biden's comments about Putin as... Read More
Debates Between Heads of State Need to Become A Thing
•�March 19, 2021
•�400 Words •�36 Comments
Though I realize that Putin's call for a debate with Biden in response to Biden's claim that Putin is a "killer" is a troll job on all sides, it strikes me that debates between heads of states are an interesting idea that need to be actualized. If you think there is "ideological polarization" between Democrats... Read More
Is Zelensky Putler's Puppet?
•�April 22, 2019
•�2,400 Words •�209 Comments
Prokudin-Gorsky. Malorossiya, c.1905-1915. In the 24 hours since the results of the second round of the Ukrainian Presidential elections became known, there has been a strange convergence of views on Ukraine's course under President-Elect Zelensky from opposite sides of the barricades. Many "svidomy" Ukrainians are in tears over their "hoodwinked" or "stupid" compatriots electing a... Read More
Korea Might be Realigning Towards China
•�January 19, 2019
•�300 Words •�33 Comments
spandrell [Korean link]: Deep history in action? Vietnam: Rebelling against China since before Christ - turns commie (if with a marked nationalist brand, as Linh Dinh will tell you); hates China anyway, and building defense ties with the US. Korea: Near always a loyal vassal to China - gets bifurcated thanks largely to China, becomes... Read More
Kissinger Sees Sense. But It's Far Too Late.
•�August 8, 2018
•�1,000 Words •�403 Comments
Buzzfeed recently had an article in which they reveal how Henry Kissinger has been lobbying Trump and Jared Kushner about cooperating with Russia to box in China. The idea is to pull of the reverse of what Nixon accomplished in the 1970s, patching up relations with Red China to exert more pressure on the more... Read More
If Worst Comes to Worst in Armenia...
•�April 28, 2018
•�900 Words •�142 Comments
Revolutionary passions. Then it won't be a big deal for Russia. Now to be sure, I still think my analysis here stands - Armenians genuinely do approve of Russia, and even if they didn't, they certainly approve of Azerbaijan and Turkey far less, and with good reason - but if we do get an anti-Russian... Read More
Natalia Antonova, China-Russia Relations Expert
•�April 7, 2018
•�100 Words •�12 Comments
Some headlines since that powerful take: China says relations with Russia at 'best level in history' China applauds Putin’s win, backs Russia on Skripal case, hails China’s ‘strategic partnership’ with Russia Global Times: Russian diplomat expulsions signal crude side of Western intention Russia & China to merge satellite tracking systems into one global navigation giant... Read More
Eightfold Increase in Russian US Leadership Approvers
•�January 24, 2018
•�100 Words •�80 Comments
Russia's greenness is immediately amusing set against the crimson autistic screeching of the West, but still, there's interesting details hidden in detailed actual report. For instance, Israeli approval increased the most of any significant country, by 14% points (only Liberia and Macedonia increased by more), to 67% total approval. Meanwhile, while Russia's approval did increase,... Read More
When Russians Were Americanophiles
•�December 18, 2017
•�700 Words •�520 Comments
At the tail end of the Cold War, there was an incredible atmosphere of Americanophilia throughout the USSR, including amongst Russians. Blue - approve of USA; orange - disapprove. Around 75%-80% of Russians approved of the United States around 1990, versus <10% disapproval. By modern standards, this would have put Russia into the top leagues... Read More
Kyrgyzstan Builds a National Myth on Russian Bones
•�October 30, 2017
•�2,000 Words •�52 Comments
On October 26, Almazbek Atambaev, the outgoing President of Kyrgyzstan, signed a decree replacing the November 7 celebrations of the October revolution with a “Day of History and Remembrance.” The “history” and “remembrance” in question refers to the Urkun, the Kyrgyz name for their 1916 revolt against Tsarist Russia. Here is an extract from the... Read More
PEW Poll of International Relations (2017)
•�July 22, 2017
•�200 Words •�56 Comments
Results of the new PEW poll on international relations. ROG-ZOG alliance on Trump. Russia is also the major country where approval of the US went up since Trump's election. These figures are however a bit outdated (they were gathered this spring). Levada, which keeps track of Russian opinion of foreign countries, showed US approval falling... Read More
Churkin's Secret Blog
•�February 25, 2017
•�1,500 Words •�11 Comments
The recently departed Vitaly Churkin was /ourguy/ in every sense of the word. Not only did he fight the good fight in the UN, it has recently emerged he also blogged the good blog (and commented the good comments) online as imperia-mir. We can't be 100% certain that it is him. We have only the... Read More
"You Are Soros Propaganda!"
•�February 22, 2017
•�400 Words •�8 Comments
The Trump administration is endlessly accused of having had contacts with Russian officials during the election campaign, as if that was a Very Bad Thing. In reality is it not only standard diplomatic practice, but it is something that the US has always done itself - and usually from the other wise of the fence.... Read More
Russians Start Liking America Again
•�February 6, 2017
•�100 Words •�15 Comments
In my 2017 predictions, I wrote: Latest polls: The gap is only 2 points now. Republicans, at least are returning the favor. The New Cold War might well be petering out in a premature end. The Germans are far less happy with Trump, though. Feel free to spy on their Chancellor to your heart's content,... Read More
The Twilight of the Moderate Rebels
•�January 27, 2017
•�500 Words •�7 Comments
Yet another tired meme of the Lamestream Media is biting the dust. Tulsi Gabbard is a Democrat who is on good terms with Trump - indeed, she was once viewed as a feasible if highly unlikely candidate for Secretary of State. She has gone to Syria, talked with the people, and confirmed that the "moderate... Read More
1% of Russians Approve of US Leadership
•�June 4, 2016
•�300 Words •�6 Comments
According to the latest figures from Gallup, only 1% of Russians approve of the US leadership. This is quite impressive. Not often you get such extreme figures. Although the percentage of truly committed "zapadniks" in Russia is not high, around 15% at most, I do think the data must have taken a sharp turn down... Read More
Why the New Cold War Is Here to Stay
•�April 7, 2015
•�1,000 Words •�53 Comments
Here are three very important graphs for comprehending the ebb and flow of Russia's relations with the West, and why what some are now calling the New Cold War might well be here to stay. Russian approval of the United States (green is positive, red is negative): Russian approval of the EU: While it's hard... Read More
Ukraine's Turn to the East: A Geopolitical Accident
•�November 24, 2013
•�1,400 Words •�52 Comments
"Imperialist Putin "Steals" Ukraine"... If only all those hysterical newspaper articles were true! In reality, the only thing he stole was Ukraine's credit card debt. He's no idiot, of course, and is in no rush to pay it off. The drama certainly hasn't ended. But a geopolitical pivot on the model of Khmelnitsky's 1654 decision... Read More
What Is Ukraine's Game Plan?
•�September 27, 2013
•�1,000 Words •�106 Comments
Even a few months ago, it looked as if Ukraine had taken a significant step towards Eurasian integration by signing up as an observer to the Customs Union between Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. However, in the past month, evidence is emerging that it was but a temporary ploy to appease Russia while in reality speeding... Read More
Alexander Mercouris on Syria - Timeline of the Runup to an Illegal War
•�August 27, 2013
•�4,000 Words •�1 Comment
Repost of Alexander Mercouris' comments at Mark Chapman's blog and The Russia Debate forum. The original compilation is posted at Mercouris' blog. PS. Originally, this space hosted just one of Mercouris' comments. Now that he has taken the trouble to gather up his output, the least I could do is update it and try to... Read More
Eurasian Integration Is A Liberal Project Opposed By Neocon Bolsheviks
•�July 10, 2013
•�600 Words •�8 Comments
My latest for VoR/US-Russia Experts panel. Hope you like the title. :) The political fragmentation of the Soviet Union was one of the major contributing factors to the "hyper-depression" that afflicted not only Russia but all the other constituent republics in the 1990's. The Soviet economy had been an integrated whole; an aircraft might have... Read More
Lessons from the Snowden Affair
•�July 7, 2013
•�1,600 Words •�21 Comments
(1) Just as with Manning, it is beyond dispute that Snowden broke US law. As such, the US government is perfectly entitled to try to apprehend him (on its own soil), request his extradition, and prosecute him. This is quite perpendicular to whether Snowden's leaks were morally "justified" or not. In some sense, they were.... Read More
No Use Crying Over Leaked Milk - Let Alone Threatening Sanctions Over It
•�July 1, 2013
•�800 Words •�11 Comments
My latest for Experts Panel/Voice of Russia: The Panel states, "On future occasions, Russia might well require Washington to cooperate in similar circumstances; and if such is the case, its handling of the Snowden affair could prove decisive as to how Washington chooses to respond." Well, let's imagine this scenario. One fine day, an FSB... Read More
Mark Adomanis: Do As US Officials Say, or Else!...
•�June 25, 2013
•�1,000 Words •�31 Comments
Mark Adomanis thinks Russia should extradite - or at least expel - Edward Snowden because... get this, it's current stance (i.e. leaving him in at Sheremetyevo Airport, an international territory) constitutes "trolling" of the US. This is, to be quite frank, a rather strange argument. Would the US extradite a Russian Snowden? To even ask... Read More
The Anti-Magnitsky List
•�April 15, 2013
•�600 Words •�5 Comments
Here is the list of US citizens publicly barred from Russia in response to the US Magnitsky List. Are you familiar with any of them? Individuals alleged to be involved in the use and legalization of torture and indefinite confinement of prisoners - the "Guantanamo list": 1. David Spears Addington - Chief of Staff of... Read More
The West Made Its Bed, Now Russia Will Lie In China's
•�April 11, 2013
•�900 Words •�10 Comments
The latest US-Russia.org Experts Panel discussion was about Russia's burgeoning partnership with China. I especially recommend Mercouris' contribution which - although unfortunately titled by VoR's editorial staff)) - is otherwise quite brilliant. My own effort follows below: First of all, let me preface that I’m one of the biggest China bulls around. Its economy in... Read More
The Western Media's War Against Cyprus and Russia
•�March 21, 2013
•�1,700 Words •�42 Comments
If you ever manage to get a troupe as diverse as Latynina, Mark Adomanis, the Cypriot Communist Party, virtually every financial analyst, Prokhorov, and Putin united in condemning your crass stupidity and cack-handedness, it's probably time to stop and ponder. But it's safe to say that's not what the Troika - the European Commission, European... Read More
The Juche Response to British Lawlessness
•�March 20, 2013
•�400 Words
My latest for VoR's Experts Panel. (Incidentally, good to see that site getting revamped, and entering the Web 2.0 era). London has a reputation as a "safe sanctuary" for shady people of means from the ex-USSR and other less-developed places, and I think it's loath to lose it – as it would by extraditing the... Read More
A Values Chasm That Can't be Bridged... At Least for Now
•�March 14, 2013
•�500 Words
My latest for VoR and US-Russia.org on Russia's recent Foreign Policy Concept: The new foreign-policy concept is a long-overdue adjustment to international realities. There can be no meaningful "strategic partnership" between Russia and the US or indeed Russia and the West in general, when their respective core values have diverged from each other so much.... Read More
What Happens If the US/Israel Attack Iran?
•�February 26, 2013
•�500 Words •�6 Comments
It might happen this June or later, reports RT citing Israeli media. Obama and Netanyahu are at least discussing the prospect. In previous years I was sure that it would happen eventually, probably before year end 2012. That is because that was the most convenient window between the fielding of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (early... Read More
A Chess Game to the Death
•�January 29, 2013
•�700 Words •�4 Comments
I am back to writing for the US-Russia.org Expert Discussion Panel, which since my hiatus has found an additional home at Voice of Russia. The latest topic was on whether Russia, China, and the West could find a common approach to the challenges of the Arab Spring. My response is pessimistic, as in my view... Read More
Da Russophile's Predictions for 2013
•�January 5, 2013
•�1,500 Words •�33 Comments
I just remembered I'd made some in 2012. It's time to see how they went, plus make predictions for the coming year. Of course I failed to predict the biggest thing of them all: The hacking that made me throw in the towel on Sublime Oblivion (remember that?), but with the silver lining that I... Read More
The Guardian On China and Russia
•�December 29, 2012
•�700 Words •�3 Comments
Keeping up with the Guardian's stream of textual diarrhea in its Russia coverage is a quixotic task, and one that I do not really have the stamina for (although Alex Mercouris does this remarkably effectively). Still, when it comes to certain issues I'm particularly interested in, such as demography, or China-Russians relations as in this... Read More
Obama, Romney, and the Reset
•�November 5, 2012
•�700 Words •�21 Comments
Latest contribution to the US-Russia.org Expert Discussion Panel on the question of which US Presidential candidate is best able to meet the challenges ahead: When predicting election outcomes, I prefer to listen to those who put their money where their mouths are. As of the time of writing, the Intrade predictions market gives a 66%... Read More
The Flight from Reason - the West's Cold War Against Russia
•�October 23, 2012
•�700 Words •�50 Comments
My latest contribution to the US-Russia.org Expert Discussion Panel this one focusing on whether the West foregoes "incalculable benefits" by continuing the Cold War. Unlike previous Panels, on which I aimed for balance, here I make no apologies at pointing a finger straight to where I believe the blame belongs: I recently began reading Martin... Read More
What Happened In Georgia Was An Oligarchic Coup
•�October 14, 2012
•�2,000 Words •�29 Comments
My latest for US-Russia.org Expert Discussion Panel on whether to view the recent Georgian elections, in which Saakashvili's United National Movement lost a lot of power, as a Kremlin coup or a triumph of democracy. My view that it isn't really either: Two dominant themes prevailed in media coverage of the 2012 Georgian elections (1)... Read More
Should the US Fight A New Cold War with Russia, or Cooperate with Russia to Integrate the Gap?
•�September 28, 2012
•�700 Words •�17 Comments
As I reported in my post unveiling US-Russia.org, there are going to be weekly discussion panels moderated by Vlad Sobell. This is the first one I participated in. It is on the topic of US-Russia Relations Against the Backdrop of Word-wide Muslim Protests. Is this a clash of civilizations? Should the US patch up ties... Read More
US-Russia.Org, New Site for Russia Watchers
•�September 22, 2012
•�200 Words •�1 Comment
It's been a few months in the building, since the decision to launch it at the WRF 2012, and I feel it is now developed enough to make it more widely known. I hope it will become as prominent as the current best specialized English-language Russian politics resource on the Internet, Russia: Other Points of... Read More
Mark Adomanis Surprised Russians Don't Hate Jews
•�June 29, 2012
•�700 Words •�46 Comments
From what I generally knew of contemporary Eastern European attitudes towards Jews (in two words “not good”) I expected that the Russian public’s attitude towards Israel would be decidely frosty, if not outright hostile... But what seems noteworthy to me is not the downward blip in 2006 but the generally high level of Russian support... Read More
Was Russia In A Demographic Apocalypse In the First Place?
•�June 29, 2012
•�1,300 Words •�75 Comments
And just as the Guardianistas and K.F. & Co. bury their heads ever deeper in the sand, real world statistics show confirm my thesis from the beginning of this year that Russia's demographic crisis has for all intents and purposes come to an end. As of May there was a y-y increase of 17% (!)... Read More
Jaan Kaplinski - from Confrontation to Reconciliation
•�June 2, 2012
•�2,200 Words •�9 Comments
Two weeks back, the distinguished Estonian poet and linguist Jaan Kaplinski in a comment on this blog linked to his article in the Russian-Estonian paper День за Днем lamenting the state of Estonian - Russian relations, especially as they were apparently really good back in the Tsarist days. In that article from От противостояния к... Read More
The World Russia Forum 2012: How to Counter Media Bias Against Russia?
•�May 6, 2012
•�300 Words •�30 Comments
I was recently honored to be invited to the World Russia Forum 2012, an annual event organized by Edward Lozansky that aims to promote US-Russia cooperation. You can read Eugene Ivanov's write-up on last year's forum here. The theme for this year will be "the role of NGOs, Public Diplomacy, and Media in formulating the... Read More
Where Do the French Presidential Candidates Stand on Russia?
•�April 22, 2012
•�1,200 Words •�18 Comments
Le Nouvel Observateur recently compiled opinions on Russian democracy from each of the ten French Presidential candidates. While the Left is highly critical of the authoritarian Putin regime, the Right is more favorably disposed to the Russian President-elect. On the eve of the first round of the French Presidential elections, I provide a translation of... Read More
Unraveling the Tandem Switch
•�October 8, 2011
•�1,500 Words •�19 Comments
Now that my initial triumphalism over Putin's return has faded a bit, it's time for a more analytical look. One of the main reasons I thought Medvedev would be the more likely person to be United Russia's Presidential candidate is that Putin was simply unwilling to return. As Daniel Treisman wrote in his book on... Read More
Interview with Mark Chapman (The Kremlin Stooge)
•�June 22, 2011
•�6,900 Words •�14 Comments
Next in our line of Watching the Russia Watchers interviews is Mark Chapman, the fiery Canadian sailor who's been blazing a path of destruction through the fetid Russophobe ranks since July 2010. That was when he first set up The Kremlin Stooge, after being blocked from La Russophobe, who couldn't withstand his powerful arguments without... Read More
In Which la Russophobe Interviews the Russophile Sociopath Blogging At Sublime Oblivion
•�May 27, 2011
•�12,600 Words •�23 Comments
Two weeks ago, I received a Facebook message from Kim Zigfeld, she of the infamous La Russophobe, asking me if I was interested in an interview with her. It didn't take long for me to come to the wrong decision! And so commenced our interview. It was a long grind. After ceaseless goings back and... Read More
Interview with Craig Willy (Letters from Europe)
•�May 16, 2011
•�5,400 Words •�4 Comments
After a year long hiatus from interviewing Russia watchers, I decided it was time to get back in the game. As it happens, my attention first fell on a Europe blogger – and not just any incisive, counter-intuitive scribbler whose intellect and analytical acumen is matched only by the number of themes he is prepared... Read More
REPRINT: Is Putin Pitiable, or Is the Financial Times Corrupt?
•�December 30, 2010
•�2,700 Words •�14 Comments
A thundering takedown of the Financial Times transparently one-sided coverage of the Khodorkovsky affair -and Khodorkovsky says Putin is ‘pitiable’ can also serve as a palimpsest for Western media coverage of this topic in general - from Eric Kraus at Truth and Beauty. BTW, do feel free to add his blog Truth and Beauty to... Read More
REPRINT: Wikileaks and the South Ossetia War
•�December 24, 2010
•�2,200 Words •�12 Comments
Though I originally meant to write my own analysis of what the Wikileaks cables have contributed to our understanding of the 2008 South Ossetia War, I realized that I would essentially be trying to duplicate the excellent efforts of Patrick Armstrong. (See also the New York Times article Embracing Georgia, U.S. Misread Signs of Rifts).... Read More
Orientalism Overload
•�December 6, 2010
•�1,100 Words •�8 Comments
This might well be my favorite cable so far - perhaps even better than the Caucasus wedding - courtesy of US ambassador to Iran Bruce Laingen in August 1979. Now maybe US diplomats are culturally West-centric and insular today, but they've got nothing on their predecessors. "Perhaps the single dominant aspect of the Persian psyche... Read More
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Anatoly Karlin
About Anatoly Karlin

I am a blogger, thinker, and businessman in the SF Bay Area. I’m originally from Russia, spent many years in Britain, and studied at U.C. Berkeley.

One of my tenets is that ideologies tend to suck. As such, I hesitate about attaching labels to myself. That said, if it’s really necessary, I suppose “liberal-conservative neoreactionary” would be close enough.

Though I consider myself part of the Orthodox Church, my philosophy and spiritual views are more influenced by digital physics, Gnosticism, and Russian cosmism than anything specifically Judeo-Christian.