Window On Eurasia: Russian Journalist Puts On A Hijab To Test Muscovites’ Reactions
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posted by eagle on April, 2010 as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 28 – In an update of John Howard Griffin’s 1961 classic study of racism in the US, "Black Like Me,” in which a white journalist passed as a black man, a Russian writer donned a hijab in order to see for herself just how the reaction of Muscovites to "ordinary Muslim girls” has changed since the period since the subway bombings in the Russian capital
In this week’s "Sobesednik,” Elena Khanyan says that her experiences confirm what Muslim women have told her: In recent weeks, they "try not to leave their residences lest they become victims of xenophobes, who have begun more frequently to attack” those who wear the hijab (www.sobesednik.ru/incident/sobes_15_10_hidzab/).
Before taking this step, Khanyan asked some Muslim women whether they could do without the hijab. "Not in any case,” Asya Israilova, a representative of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus. "It isn’t one of the ...
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Window On Eurasia: ‘Chernobyl Taught No One Anything,’ Station’s Former Manager Says
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 29 – Twenty-four years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the station’s director at that time says that the accident "taught no one anything” not because people could not have learned from what happened there but rather because the Soviet government and other backers of nuclear power did not want to learn lest they undermine their corporate interests.
Indeed, Viktor Bryukhanov, the Chernobyl plant’s director from its establishment in 1970 to the time of the accident who was then sentenced to ten years in prison for his role in the disaster, says Moscow preferred to "liquidate the symbol of the danger [Chernobyl and other plants represent] rather than deal with its causes.”
In an interview with Odnakoj.ru, Bryukhanov, 74, talks about the 1986 accident which claimed 31 lives immediately, exposed 600,000 people involved in the cleanup to dangerous levels of radiation, and resulted in almost 18,000 premature deaths among them since ...
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Window On Eurasia: New Journal Seeks To Elevate Russian Nationalist Discourse
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 29 – Two weeks ago, a group of conservative Russian nationalists led by Konstantin Krylov launched a new journal, "Questions of Nationalism,” not only to take on their opponents but to raise the intellectual and political level of discussion within and about the Russian nationalist movement.
Krylov told "Russkoye obozreniye” that the journal has three distinct missions. First, it is intended to serve as "the theoretical organ of Russian nationalists, above all of the Russian national liberation movement or national democrats as [they] call themselves” (www.rus-obr.ru/opinions/6367).
Second, he said, the new publication is to serve as a research journal, to the extent that at the present movement all research in this area is being conducted by people who are not well-disposed [to Russian nationalism] and certain alternatives are needed, including academic alternatives.”
And third, Krylov said, the new journal defines as one of its goals "the acquainting of [its] reader with little-known ...
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Window On Eurasia: Russia’s Road System Collapsing As A Result Of More Traffic, Less Money
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 28 – Even as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin again promises to complete a trans-Russia highway and as Moscow media report progress on several high-profile road projects, including paid highways, near the capital, Russia’s road system in many parts of the country is near the point of collapse, officials say.
They point to two reasons for that conclusion. On the one hand, according to a report in Irkutsk’s "Argumenty i fakty,” the number of cars and trucks using the roads is growing rapidly, putting pressure on highways that were not designed to carry either the number or weight of vehicles now passing over them every day (irk.aif.ru/auto/article/12624).
And on the other, officials responsible for roads say, the amount of money available for keeping the roads in good repair has been declining each year, a trend that in domino-fashion means Russia will eventually have to spend even more to ...
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TheOtherRussia: The Moscow Times On Nashi’s Fifth Anniversary
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
April 16th, 2010 • Related • Filed UnderNashi, the notoriously overzealous pro-Kremlin youth group often compared to the Soviet Komsomol, officially turned five years old yesterday. In celebration, the group held a congress and rally with top government officials as guest speakers, set against the backdrop of a film bashing Russia’s democratic opposition, including United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov. Given the growing prominence of opposition movements such as Solidarity, combined with Nashi’s history of harassing opposition activists, the vitriolic proclamations from yesterday’s celebration may be a sign of things to come. The Moscow Times reported on the event. 
Nashi Celebrates Fifth Year With Kremlin Support
April 16, 2010
By Alexander Bratersky
Pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, best known for harassing ambassadors and opposition leaders, celebrated its five-year anniversary Thursday with a major show of support from the Kremlin, which said the activists remained a vital force in Russia. Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov — who is widely believed ...
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