Russian Life and Media

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal has been named as one of the top blogs in/about Russia for 2011 by GO! OVERSEAS and we've been given permission to use the Emblem pictured here as part of our publications. Only 10 recipients are selected each year so this is quite thrilling to our little venture and it is with an attitude of gratitude that we offer sincere thanks to each reader who felt we deserved to be included in this group.

[TwoBitBandit]

gratz man.


I read your blog once in a while and it's always interesting.

[Gator]

JUSTIFIABLY SO!
 
 

[mendeleyev]

большое спасибо!

[BC]

Congrats Mendeleyev,

I also enjoy your style and read your reports fairly often.

You manage to get your topics across within the bounds of a good reporter, emphasizing the 5 W's while maintaining a good objective stance - a difficult task today when competing with sensationalist reporters bloggers. 

Kudos.

[acctBill]

Congratulations.  Your blog is an interesting read.   

[Anotherkiwi]

I'll add my support - I always enjoy your work, especially as so much of it is totally new to someone on the other side of the world.

[Kuna]

 

And well deserved Mendeleyev!

Congrats!

[mendeleyev]

Thanks to each of you.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal--

No taste for Campbell’s soups in Russia

In Russia soup is served year around and made from scratch with recipes handed down for generations. Russians enjoy cooking and soup, or суп as it’s spelled in Cyrillic, is a stable at meals all year long and if you’ve tasted soup made in a kitchen from fresh ingredients, then you understand why Russians simply ignored Campbell’s extensive attempts at marketing. 

Nonetheless, after 4 years Campbell’s Soups is pulling out of Russia.
Campbell’s had done their homework and correctly identified Russia as a prime potential market. Russians consume hot soups in winter and cold soups in summer at nearly every evening meal. So it wasn’t for lack of interest. Frankly, what Campbell’s failed to understand is that food from a can is greeted with suspicion in these parts.
 
(Above: Logo for the popular mall and kiosk cafe's known as "Soup chik")

Vodka and strawberry jam take the place of chicken soup as a cold remedy so even in the harsh and cold Russian winters, Campbell’s couldn’t make a dent. Local street kiosk vendors and mall cafe’s like супчик (“Soup-chik”) and the more upscale Суп-кафе (“Soup-Cafe”) offer popular soup choices for hungry soup lovers away from home.

From Borsch to fish soups, Russians are true soup lovers and Campbell’s never really stood a chance at winning either loyalties or taste tests. The Mendeleyev Journal has devoted an entire page with recipes of Russian and Ukrainian soup favourites.

Campbell's Vice President Denise Morrison told the media that Campbell’s will turn their attention to the Chinese market. Campbell’s is convinced that China represents great opportunities and in hindsight understands that asking Russians to purchase a soup ready-made from a can was a long shot.

The pullout from Russia will mean that Campbell’s will cut 770 jobs worldwide and minimize production at a plant in Michigan. In addition, the new management company intends to cut about 130 positions in the company’s headquarters in Camden (NJ). By reducing operations in Russia and the dismissal of employees worldwide, the company expects to save $60 million over the near term.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev sent a message of congratulations to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canadian Governor General David Johnston on the country’s national holiday, Canada Day, 01 July.



In his communication to PM Harper, Mr. Medvedev expressed that, “We are happy to see that Russian-Canadian cooperation is expanding steadily and embracing new and promising initiatives. It is my conviction that our common desire to strengthen good-neighbourly and mutually beneficial relations and constructive cooperation in bilateral affairs and on the international stage, including through the UN, the G8 and the G20, is an important condition for developing this positive process.

We are ready to continue developing the dialogue between our countries for the good of our peoples and in the interests of international stability and security.”

The Russian President expressed to Governor General Johnston that, “constructive cooperation between our countries plays an important part in ensuring global peace and security and sustainable development”.
Mr. Medvedev went on to say that Russia’s commitment to “continuing to build up our bilateral political, trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian ties and broaden our cooperation on resolving current international issues”, and states confidence that, “through our common efforts, we will put our mutually advantageous partnership’s considerable potential to effective use for the good of the Russian and Canadian peoples.”

[mendeleyev]

From today's Mendeleyev Journal:

He was backed by no less than USA Senator John McCain. When campaigning, the rehabilitated criminal, Viktor Yanukovich promised to fight corruption. So what? Are we really supposed to believe such promises from someone who knows intimately what it means to live inside a jail cell? His first prison sentence, three years incarceration for participating in a robbery, came at the age of 17.


(Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and Hillary Clinton; photo: US State Dept)


We realize that all politicians promise to fight corruption because it is what the citizen voters wish to hear. It tickles the ears as the Good Book says. But once in office, do dirty politicians really fight corruption, or is a high government office just an elevated opportunity for more egregious crimes?

In the language of Ukraine's Constitution, the President of the country is responsible to uphold the Constitution. If you ask, Ukrainian President Yanukovich will swear that he is doing a good job--even a great job of protecting Ukraine's Constitution. That was evident from his demeanor at the press conference. Judging from recent protests however, many of his citizens might not agree.

Which leads us to the content of his press conference. Yanukovich was pointedly asked about his son, a Ukrainian Rada (parliament) deputy, who often votes in parliament for other deputies in their absence. This is a clear violation of the very Constitution his father swore to protect.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z0fP_gt0Gq0[/youtube]


So when asked about it in the press conference, Mr. Yanukovich ignored the question and turned the subject to protection of his children. Remember, this is the same man whose government has hauled former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko into court for the "crime" of negotiating a gas contract with Russia during the last gas delivery crisis that had paralyzed a good part of Eastern Europe in the dead of winter.

Yet when confronted with evidence and questions about the blatant illegal actions of his powerful son,Yanukovich replied, "When children are picked on - this is something else. I assure you I am not ashamed of my children." Well the son isn't exactly a child, he is a grown up member of Parliament.

So, Mr. President, shall we play the video once again for you? In most civilized countries, and yes that implies that perhaps your country might not be one of them, people like your son would be going to jail and your reign would be in serious jeopardy.


(photo below: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/The Mendeleyev Journal)

[Rubicon]

Mendeleyev,

I am sure you have seen the video where a British journalist asks him about the barriers which have been constructed to prevent another Orange revolution.  Instead of answering the question, he say's out of the blue:  "Do I look like I am afraid??  No Mr. Mafia/Jailbird, you do not.

[mendeleyev]

Looks like lots of changes are coming to Vkontakte.ru the very popular Russian social site.


At first the prospect of having a .ru address was thrilling, but over time companies recognize that it limits international exposure. So, as part of a strategy to promote global market share, vKontakte has announced a move from .ru, or "rue" as the Russians call it, to the popular worldwide .com domain.

While the url address will change, servers will remain in Russia and the move to the .com domain will kickoff major international expansion plans for the group. vKontakte founder Pavel Durov says the move to the English version has already taken place accompanied with a new and shorter url at www.vk.com. Mr. Durov says that the logo and brand name "vKontakte" will remain.

We checked vk.com and found it loaded and ready for use and more importantly, the vk.com defaults to English. The site shows that it is also available in Русский (Russian), Українська (Ukrainian), Español (Spanish), Deutsch (German), Português (Portuguese), and Français (French).

Surprisingly, the move to vk.com wasn't really that much of a "move" as the domain name has existed since 2009 on the same database, however most consumers were unaware until the recent company announcement. At least for now however, joining vk.com still requires an invitation from an existing vKontakte member.

The Russian newspaper Gazeta reports that LiveJournal is contemplating similar strategies and LJ employees have been instructed to cease using the Russian spelling for "LiveJournal" in communications with the public.

[Rubicon]

Hi Mendeleleyev,

I have a profile on V Kontakte and I do not remember needing to have a friend invite me.  Unfortunately because trying to read Cyrillic gives me a major headache I have been unable to finish just 10% of my profile.

I just pulled up the link you gave and it was initially in English but then when I pulled up my profile it was all in Russian so I have no idea how to complete my profile.  (Perhaps someday when you are in a really good mood you could help me to do it).  Is there a tab somewhere which will then change the whole thing back into English so that I can figure it out??

[BC]

Is there a tab somewhere which will then change the whole thing back into English so that I can figure it out??

Use chrome and invoke google translation that usually does a decent job translating an entire webpage.

[mendeleyev]

Good suggestion--that should work easily.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Businesspeople waiting for reform and easing of the entry visa regimes between the USA and Russia will likely have a very nice gift just before Christmas: a 3 year multiple entry visa.

Disregard news reports that speak of a visa-free regime as that isn't happening, yet. While the idea of a visa-free regime is something both Moscow and Washington hope to work out in the future, what is soon forthcoming was outlined in this week's Washington news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and best explained by Mr. Lavrov who said, "In regard to the timeframe (signing of a visa agreement), it will happen this year for sure and much earlier than Christmas."

Those are not just the speculative words from two government functionaries; both are acting on direct orders from their respective bosses, Presidents Medvedev of Russia and Obama of the USA. The deal would allow Russian and US business travelers to have freedom of movement between both countries for short periods with each visa valid for 36 months.

The idea of easing visa restrictions between the two countries was first hinted at in March when US Vice-President Joe Biden met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Then in May Russian Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama confirmed talks about a visa-free deal through the American Ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the deal would greatly improve relationships between the countries, saying that “Business men and women can travel multiple times between our two countries over 36 months on a single visa," Clinton said. "This is a big deal for those who are doing business and we are laying the groundwork for even more trade and travel.”

Clinton and Lavrov also signed an agreement on adoptions, an issue of concern on the Russian side over the wellbeing of orphan children adopted by American parents.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal

It has been a busy week for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. First he was in Washington to meet with his American counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, regarding topics ranging from visa rule changes to Libya and then Mr. Lavrov arrived back in Moscow just in time to present new ambassadors to Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev.

 

New Ambassadors to Russia meet President Medvedev in the Grand Kremlin Palace. Inside the ornate Saint Alexander Hall of the Kremlin’s Grand Palace, President Medvedev received letters of credentials from eleven new ambassadors to the Russian Federation from Argentina, Burundi, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, India, Rwanda, El Salvador, Vatican, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Japan.

President Medvedev received new Ambassadors from:
Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic – new Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation,
Juan Carlos Kreckler – the Argentine Republic,
Guillaume Ruzoviyo – the Republic of Burundi,
Anita Cristina Echeverria Escher – the Republic of El Salvador,
Filiberto Ntutumu Nguema – the Republic of Equatorial Guinea,
Kasahun Dender Melese – the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,
Ajai Malhotra – the Republic of India,
Tikahito Harada – Japan,
Christine Nkulikiyinka – the Republic of Rwanda,
Pham Xuan Son – the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
Bonifes Guva Britto Chidyausiku – the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Photo below: According to tradition, the Russian Foreign Minister stands next to the President as each new Ambassador is accepted.

 

(Left) Ethiopia's new Ambassador, Mr. Kasahun Dender Melese, presented credentials to Russian Federation President Medvedev (right).

(photos: Presidential Press Service/Mendeleyev Journal)
                                 
 

[mendeleyev]

One of the disadvantages of my work is constant travel, however there are advantages as well. I was blessed to be able to worship today at Saint George Russian Orthodox Mission in West Jordan, Utah, in the greater Salt Lake City area. It is a small congregation established around 2005-2006 as part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Services were conducted in Old Slavonic with parts of the liturgy in Russian and English.

Surprisingly, it was not that far from my hotel and while there were two Greek Orthodox churches perhaps closer to SLC, I was most interested in attending the Russian service and was pleased the drive was no more than 15 minutes or so from the hotel. Of the 45-50 people there, probably 35 were women and children and 10-12 men. From the ages of many of the ladies, along with their use of Russian, it was obvious many of these were recent immigrants.

I stumbled across their website: http://www.stgeorgeslc.org/ while looking for an Orthodox Church online this morning.

Interestingly there was a recent article in the local paper as the church is in an older one story office building and the landlord is Mormon and a church like this in a sea of LDS adherents stands out for certain.

[mendeleyev]

Respected Russian Political Scientist, Author and Journalist Dmitry Yefimovich Furman (Дми́трий Ефи́мович Фу́рман) died on 22 July. Born in Moscow in 1941, Dr. Furman was Director of the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

One might not always see eye to eye on every issue, but Dmitry Furman's dedication to his homeland, his professionalism, and his insight commanded respect from every corner. Today we offer our respects and pray that his memory will be eternal.

Dmitry earned his PhD from Moscow State University in 1965 and over the years authored works on Ukraine, Belarus, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the Baltics. Considered an expert on the state of religion in both pre and post Soviet history he produced works on religion in post-Soviet Russia as well as a collection of his political journalism titled Our Last Ten Years which was published in 2001.


Highlights of Dmitry Furman:

(Interview with "Prague Watchdog" on the book Chechnya and Russia: Societies and States.)

Prague Watchdog: The book Chechnya and Russia: Societies and States, which you edited and which appeared right at the beginning of the second Chechen war, was imbued with anti-war sentiment. In that respect it was unique in the period of the late 1990s. Its mood contrasted totally with the prevailing social atmosphere, which was a mixture of Chechen-hatred, revanchism and complexes connected with imperial identity. Does that mean that when you were putting the book together you had absolutely no idea of how events were going to develop, the scenario they were going to follow? And could the situation really have turned out any differently? Dmitry Furman: When we were putting the book together (and the situation was the breathing-space between the wars) my feeling was that even though a second war was approaching and was practically unavoidable, there was none the less some chance of stopping it. And so we tried to get the book out before the war started, and to do this in such a way that the book would become a factor, no matter how tiny, that might change the situation. Of course, hopes of that kind are always naive, but I’m talking about how it was at the time.
People always think that what has happened was bound to happen. Human consciousness is so constituted that we find it very difficult to find alternatives in the past. And yet I think there were some meagre chances that events could have taken a different turn. It is very hard now to say what those options might have been, when the opportunity was missed, but they certainly existed, even though by now they are very hard to see with the naked eye.
But what did in fact happen – the second war and its result – was the most likely scenario and the most natural one.
PW: And what were the reasons for that? Who was to blame? There are various explanations. The most common one is that Chechnya itself became a springboard for ungovernable and hostile forces, a source of aggression. Some talk of a political paradigm shift that began back in the days of Yeltsin, a transition from an authoritarian to a democratic orientation. This required a centralization of power. How would you yourself define the set of causes?
DF: The main one is undoubtedly that Russia has followed the path of centralization and the construction of an authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regime, in which any compromise with independent territories has been impossible. As soon as the vector of political change had developed in this way, it was impossible to leave Chechnya alone.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that Russia’s defeat in the first war was a terrible humiliation for the whole of Russian society. And among the elite, and possibly in the rest of society, too, a spontaneous consensus formed – the humiliation had to be wiped away, it had to be compensated for.
Chechnya’s ungovernable character, the provocative role played by Basayev in his Dagestan campaign – these are also causes, but they are secondary ones. To a very large extent we ourselves have contributed to the situation becoming uncontrollable – in theory it could have been more orderly. The fantastical, hysteria-charged plans that emerged from Chechen leaders of the Basayev variety were also a result of our rapid and very tangible evolution into authoritarianism and war.

Dmitry Furman on Putin handing over power to someone else in 2008, from "Russia in Global Affairs". № 2, April - June 2008:

Putin’s decision marks a step toward the modernization of Russian mentality that was fashioned by centuries of tsarist autocracy, which suggested that “once a Tsar, always a Tsar.” Second, it implies divesting supreme power of the sacral and personified properties. Third, it sets a precedent whereby a ruler submits himself to “a piece of paper” – the Constitution.

Dmitry Furman on President Medvedev from Russia in Global Affairs. № 2, April - June 2009:

There is no doubt that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wants Russia to become a free country ruled by law. One would be a naive cynic – and cynics are often naive – to think that a person could say “Freedom is better than not being free,” while actually thinking “Isn’t it clever of me to deceive these fools?” However, let us imagine that the president is indeed full of resolve to put the country on the track towards greater freedom. This is easy to imagine; all the more so because his pro-democratic, legitimacy-related aspirations may stand in accordance with his other natural desires, such as independent actions, real rather than formal personal power, respect and popularity. Many people now dream of a thaw after “Putin’s freeze.”
 This is an ideal, liberal scenario, so let us analyze it in more detail.
The whole story begins with certain phrases and symbolic gestures that place Medvedev, the president, some distance away from his predecessor Vladimir Putin, who left Russia somewhat frost-bitten before he became prime minister. Polls show a flagging trust in the prime minister (which has happened as well). Medvedev makes a number of statements, saying that the scale of this crisis stems in some measure from previous mistakes, uttering phrases like “the mistakes we made earlier.” Yet everyone understands who is actually meant by “we.” The president’s rating begins to climb above that of the prime minister, who suddenly turns up “in charge of crisis management” (this has not happened yet, although it is quite likely).
 
 This is not all that important in itself, but it has a symbolic significance. Everyone is waiting for the climax of the story. As a man of good morals, the president understands he owes much to the prime minister, who was his predecessor, but he also understands the government’s flaws, his personal responsibility to the people and the interests of the state, which prevail over his personal feelings. Time passes and Putin steps down as prime minister with honors (what he will do next is a big headache for Russia, but we can think up something). And then it turns out that the people really do not care, the top bureaucracy has been longing to see this, and the liberals are walking on air. The West is also satisfied and it hopes that the thaw will bring about a detente.

Dmitry Furman on modern day Russian democracy from The Post-Soviet Penumbra:

...countries in which power has never been transferred to the opposition, or indeed to anyone not nominated by the authorities themselves. There are four of these: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, ruled today by Nursultan Nazarbaev and Islam Karimov, both former First Secretaries of the cp Central Committee of their respective republics; Turkmenistan, ruled by Saparmurat Niyazov, also a member of the Soviet nomenklatura, until his death in 2006, when the presidency was handed to one of his comrades-in-arms; and Russia, where power has twice been transferred—but to men designated by their predecessors. These are what I have termed ‘imitation democracies’, characterized by a huge disparity between formal constitutional principles and the reality of authoritarian rule.

Dmitry Furman on Ukaine from The Post-Soviet Penumbra:

Ukraine experienced one democratic rotation of power, in 1994, from its first post-Soviet president Leonid Kravchuk to the second, Leonid Kuchma; the latter then made an unsuccessful attempt to establish an ‘imitation democratic’ regime, leading in turn to the ‘Orange Revolution’ of 2004. At present, a democratic system is stabilizing in Ukraine, gradually and with great difficulty. Belarus, on the other hand, currently has a harsh authoritarian regime. But it has not been on this path from the beginning: President Lukashenko was democratically elected in 1994 as a representative of the opposition.

Dmitry Furman on the relationship of Religious faith to Democracy from The Post-Soviet Penumbra:

In my view, the deepest factor is the religious-cultural one. It is no coincidence that the first group consists of countries with a Western religious-cultural tradition—mostly Lutheran and Catholic, with the idiosyncratic addition of Orthodox Moldova. The countries in the second, authoritarian group are Muslim, with the exception of Russia. The rapid construction of democracy after 1991 in the Baltic states is undoubtedly connected to their Western religious-cultural affiliation—there was no comparably rapid or successful transition to democracy in any of the Orthodox, or mainly Orthodox, countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Georgia). The influence of Orthodoxy on political systems is a much larger question, worthy of separate discussion; but it is evident that Orthodoxy had a different impact from Lutheranism and Catholicism, and a less favourable one for post-Soviet democratization. Similarly, the reasons why democratic processes have encountered most obstacles in the Islamic world are complex, and the social influence of Islam is the subject of intense debate; but the same obvious facts apply in the post-Soviet space as in the rest of the world.Of course, religious-cultural affiliations are in part a product of geography. The proximity of the Baltic states to Western Europe was important in determining their inclusion in the West. But it was not geography per se that led to this; rather, it was historical processes—the conquest of Estonia and Latvia in the 13th century by Germanic knights, the union of Lithuania with Poland in the 16th.

Dmitry Furman on Nagorno Karabakh:

The prospects of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement based on recent negotiation are vague and irrelevant. There are examples of successful talks between representatives of the states the population of which experienced a very negative attitude towards each other, for example the agreements concluded by Sadat and Begin in Camp David. Nevertheless I think
 that nothing can be expected from the Armenian-Azeri talks in the
 near future.

Dmitry Furman interviewed by Russian Peace and Democracy:

...first of all, in the past, the contact with foreigners was the most important status symbol in Russia. Anybody – the peace movement – were status symbol. And people wanted to belong to Pugwash or other peace movement only to get the possibility to come out. Now it is not important. Now we can take a tourist trip anywhere. Now we are much more rich than before, so there is no great interest in this political contact, or these conferences. Then the peace movement and so on, all these kind of movements were in the Soviet period a very important part of official ideology — the struggle for peace against imperialistic aggressors and so on. So all these contacts were important for the officials as well. Our rulers. Now it is not important for them as well. Naturally. I think that spontaneous movements of this kind may appear in 20 or 30 years but not now. There is no psychological or intellectual soil for these movements. Movements of the soviet period were not real spontaneous movements. Now we are not in the period of such movements. Not now.

Dmitry Furman on Chenhnya from Russian Peace and Democracy:

As far as separatism goes, I wrote a book about separatism a few years ago and I take a very strong position that almost always separatist movements are destructive. I want democracy, not separatism. I think that the export and import of democracy is more or less impossible. The society must be prepared by its internal development for its democracy. And all premature attempts to impose democracy can lead only to backlashes and to reactions. Of course it is possible to help create democracy. It is a very, very complicated task. And I think that the Western powers in Russia played a not very good role for creating democracy.

I believe in spreading democracy through nonviolence and support – not imposing democracy. Never something like what happened in Iraq. But always supporting and assisting grassroots groups in countries that need help. I believe in that. And I believe in working with people from Burma and Tibet, for example, who have that problem.

Dmitry Furman on the character of the Russian people and the relation to self-government from Russia in Global Affairs. № 2, April - June 2006:

Russian society has nominally broken with its Soviet past and adopted democratic values. There is no serious and real ideological alternative to democracy, and it is doubtful there ever will be. However, this society is unable to live in accordance with democratic values. It is recreating a system of “uncontested power” that is increasingly similar to the Soviet one but void of any ideological foundation.

The post-Soviet Russian system is based on a profound contradiction between the formal and informal social arrangement – a contradiction which society has to hide from the world and itself (seemingly democratic and contested elections, the outcomes of which are generally known in advance; seemingly independent courts that pass judgments that serve the interests of the authorities, etc.).

Final thoughts on Dmitry from Alexei Pankin writing for The Moscow Times
 

When I visited my friend, political scientist Dmitry Furman, on Aug. 18, 1991, our intense discussion of the political situation in the country lasted so long that I ended up staying the night at his place. The next morning, Furman woke me up, exclaiming: “There’s been a coup! Gorbachev is out!”
I had barely awoken when he was already predicting how events would unfold. “It doesn’t matter who comes out on top — the people who organized the putsch against Gorbachev or Boris Yeltsin" he said. “The winner will destroy the opposition and cling to power as long as possible on the pretext of overcoming the chaos or of defending democracy.
“Neither side will have any use for Gorbachev because of his penchant for reaching compromises and consensus among conflicting interests. This means that true democracy has already lost the battle,” he said.
Furman’s words, uttered in the first minutes after learning that tanks had been stationed on Moscow streets, have proven prophetic.
    On Friday, Dmitry Furman, the renowned thinker, political scientist and journalist, passed away.
I first met and became friends with Furman at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies. He was unusual among Soviet Americanologists. At that time, most people in the field either characterized the United States as the evil empire, or else they faithfully recounted whatever they read on the subject from U.S. books and magazines barely concealing their feelings of inferiority considering how far the Soviet Union lagged behind the United States.
Furman’s distinction was that he was an objective scholar.

Although Furman was Russian, he was genuinely concerned with developments in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. In his books, he finished only shortly before his death, he treated the subject as if these independent republics were still his country.
His works will be relevant for many years to come. Although the situation in each former republic is changing rapidly, their political cultures were formed over the course of centuries. Studying that past will always provide a meaningful reference point for understanding the present.
We have lost a man worthy of being considered a classic and timeless scholar of international relations.

Read the entire article here: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/farewell-to-a-great-scholar/441098.html#ixzz1TE27NV95


This is a great loss for Russia. Farewell to a man who mentored so many. Dima you will be greatly missed.

[mendeleyev]

There are a couple of updates which you may be interested in knowing about:

Update 1: 36 month visa to Russia
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met recently in Washington and announced an agreement on new visa  issuance regimes. There was some confusion as to whether they'd first be related to business and humanitarian or would also include private and tourist visas immediately.

The State Department says that the new procedures will include private and tourist travelers from the start.

When finalized the new procedures will include multiple-entry visas valid for 36 months.

Unfortunately for immediate travel the agreement has not yet gone into effect as it is awaiting final approval from Moscow.



Update 2: Applying for a visa to the USA (State Dept website)
The U.S. Mission in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok) is transitioning to a new appointment service for those applying for a visa to the United States. Starting on August 1, 2011, all applicants must visit http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ to start their U.S. visa application at a consular section in Russia and to receive more information on the process. Please do not attempt to visit this site before August 1, 2011. As of this date, all services, including calling for information and scheduling an appointment, will be provided free of charge, although applicants will still be responsible for the visa application fee. This new procedure will reduce the overall cost for applicants, and makes the process of applying for an American visa faster and easier – marking a significant improvement over the old system.

The last day to schedule a visa appointment through PONY EXPRESS visa@ponyexpress.ru will be July 29, 2011. If you plan to travel to the United States after August 19, 2011, we recommend you wait to schedule your appointment online at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru/ on August 1, 2011.

Consular officers from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow will answer questions about the new appointment service during a live web chat on July 28, 2011 at 15:00 (Moscow time). Log on as a guest at http://statedept.connectsolutions.com/moscow/ and submit your questions in either English or Russian.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

You knew it would be just a matter of time.

So it really wasn't that big of a surprise recently when ­South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has said that his country could join the Union State of Russia and Belarus after Belarus recognizes South Ossetian independence.

Kokoity expressed his hope of South Ossetia and its people achieving the highest possible level of integration with Russia and Belarus, saying "Our people are historically oriented towards Russia, and we will never forget Moscow's historic decision to recognize South Ossetia's independence in August 2008." 

Russia and a few other countries recognized South Ossetia along with breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia, as independent states just two weeks after the 2008 conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia. While Georgia considers the two regions part of its sovereign territory, it is highly unlikely that either region would return under Georgian rule.

A future union station would likely include Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and eventually the Moldovan breakaway region known as Transnistria.

[mendeleyev]

Russia will soon welcome Tim Barrow back to Moscow as he takes up the job as Ambassador for the United Kingdom. Barrow is not that new really to Russia having previously served as the second secretary at the Moscow Embassy from 1991 to 1993. Later he headed the Russian section at the Foreign Ministry for a year.

­Barrow will replace Dame Ann Pringle in November. Pringle has served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Russian Federation since 2008. She was the first woman to hold the job in the 450-plus years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

So far the Home Office has not yet announced a new appointment for Pringle.

Barrow, is an Oxford graduate who worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1986. Barrow is also highly regarded for his work in Ukraine and has been a frequent contributor and speaker in Kyiv at the British Ukrainian Society.

[mendeleyev]

Medvedev signs pardon for Natalia Zakharova

(From the Mendeleyev Journal)

Presidential Press Secretary Natalya Timakova let the cat out of the bag in July that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev planned to pardon Natalia Zakharova, the well known Russian actress now serving a three-year sentence for setting fire to her French ex-husband’s apartment.


Zakharova has fought over a decade for custody of her daughter but was arrested on charges of arson in France after returning from Russia in January 2010 for court hearings on her parental rights.  Her arson conviction came in a French court but based on the Russian-French Convention of 2003 she was allowed to serve her sentence in Russia.

Zakharova had married Frenchman Patrick Ouari in 1993 and moved to France, giving birth to their daughter, Maria, in 1995. The marriage ended soon thereafter and initially Zakharova was given custody of the daughter however in 1999 a French court placed the child in foster care after Ouari and Zakharova accused each other of child abuse.

A French court ruled that the child had been abused by the ex-husband but laid partial blame on the mother. Zakharova claimed that the French court had also found issue with the child’s religion. Baptized Orthodox, the court ruled that the child not be allowed to attend Orthodox services during visitation schedules with Zahkarova and instead assigned to the girl to Catholic foster parents.

In 2006 a Russian court recognized her parental rights, but a French court upheld its decision in 2007. This week Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an order pardoning Zakharova, citing humanitarian reasons in a released statement.