I ordered my copy, and you should get one, too. @jeremymorris.bsky.social is one of the sharpest minds out there. The field needs scholars like him.

russian military is brat

William Faulkner would be pissed. And drunk.

As Trump barrels through his second term, the warning signs of democratic backsliding are impossible to ignore. Is authoritarianism possible in America, and what can we learn from Putin's Russia? Political scientist and scholar of authoritarianism @thenoahbuckley.bsky.social breaks it down:

No, Russian liberals, complaining about Americans "not stopping Trump" will not make the Ukrainians like you.

You've changed, Alexander Dugin. You've changed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has unveiled a plan to reduce projected U.S. Defense Department spending by 8% over the next five years, which means many in The Resistance™️ will now counter-lobby to protect the United States military budget. Can’t wait. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This evening's top headline over at Kommersant: "Elect Yourself: Donald Trump Invites Ukraine to the Negotiation Table - and Volodymyr Zelensky to the Ballot Box."* *Wordplay here - урна can be both a garbage can and a ballot box.

Saw this at the Berlin film festival. Recommend.

Did the Russians protest though dance? I don't think so.

Imagining European readers' heads exploding when they read an American writer compare them to Guatemalans - of all people!

Main headline over at Kommersant this evening: "Trump really wants to work with Russia"

Rule #1: Don't sit at the corner of the table.

Doing your job is apparently heroic.

What's the point of labeling a news outlet "undesirable" if you're just going to call us a "foreign agent"?

Zemestim aged well. realty.ria.ru/20250217/stt...

It's a great mystery why the Americans don't take the EU seriously.

More bad news for the folks who hoped Ukraine could win Trump's protection by delivering untold unground riches. www.spglobal.com/market-intel...

Donald Trump has frozen USAID. This is bad news for civil society organisations in the Russian democratic community, but Europe has the chance to step up its soft power influence in the eastern neighbourhood, writes @kirland.bsky.social 👇

My column on Alexey Navalny's death anniversary and critical reflection on his impact on Russian politics and activism. I urgently call to address the root causes of war; and offer to practice solidarity, hope, and care in our resistance in a time of far-right: open.substack.com/pub/doxaengl...

We need more stakeholder engagement and bottom-up approaches. We need to scale up.

Top headline from Kommersant this morning: "Putin's Day of Triumph."

REPORTER: Do you view Ukraine as an equal member of this peace process? TRUMP: Ummmm ... it's an interesting question. I think they have to make peace. That was not a good war to go into.

America is not Russia, folks. What a concept.

So, congratulations, you're free! But a bit of bad news, I'm afraid: we're going to destroy your employer and you'll be out of a job.

This list, including United Russia, certainly doesn't help USAID's case. At the time when it was reportedly receiving grants, the party had already consolidated power in Russia's parliament and was clearly anything but democratic.

The revolution will not be Amazon Primed.

Yeah folks, it doesn’t look good for us at ridl.io

DOXA turns 8! Founded as a student journal in Moscow, we defended student rights, helped detainees at protests, faced political persecution, and went into exile. Today, we continue reporting on Russia despite being labeled an "undesirable organization."

"TV Imedi has a stated goal — to prevent the opposition from gaining power — a goal former employees say has overtaken all questions of ethics." This article is based on the accounts from former Imedi TV employees, absolutely recommend! oc-media.org/a-cog-in-the...

Does anybody know if murder ballads are a thing in Russian folk music?

Another critical look at the effects of USAID and “foundation handouts,” this time from former human rights lawyer Mikhail Benyash concerning Russia’s opposition in exile. Three cheers for the Trump-Musk “granticide”? (Benyash has found happiness as a plumber in Lithuania.) meduza.io/en/feature/2...

One more tonight from NYRB, this one by Gary Saul Morson on the history of Russian liberals and how their deep distrust of ordinary people helped preserve the authoritarianism in Russia that's come back to eat them. American orthodoxy shares some of these assumptions. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

We ridl.io got two texts on how anti-war Russians view Russian political opposition (in exile) First - FBK, late Navalny network ridl.io/russian-oppo... Second - Khodorkovsky network ridl.io/the-russian-... What is good, what is bad and what is ugly

Sergey Rogov dedicated a good bit of his life to trying to advance, and more lately save, prospects for arms control, even as his health declined. Always intelligent, often infuriating, and never unwilling to talk. I agree with Andrey--this is a big loss.

With all the attention now on American foreign aid, it's worth returning to @joshuacraze.bsky.social's critical look at the industry of Western humanitarianism. This, published by @thebaffler.com in Nov 2023, is decidedly not the perspective you get in most MSM reports today.

Not loving the English translation of Navalny's Patriot. Clearly rushed. A lot of Russianisms and stilted language. Some examples: "Article" should be "charges." "It was regularly remarked" should be "It was often said." "Have you taken leave of your senses?" is 18th century vernacular. Etc.

In post-Cold War CEE/Eurasia, there hasn't been a popular protest movement as important as the current one in Serbia that wasn't cultivated and coopted by outside powers. Which explains why the latter are literally speechless about it. By @lilylynch.bsky.social newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

New book arrival! From the prolific and perspicacious Marlene Laruelle. @illsp.bsky.social @ieres-gwu.bsky.social @ponarseurasia.bsky.social

Pavel Talankin kept months’ worth of footage filmed at the Chelyabinsk region school where he worked to produce “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” a rare firsthand glimpse at how Russian schools have become tools of state propaganda.

"In Russia, one of the biggest independent outlets, Meduza, was due to hold a management board meeting on Friday to discuss its future. Other media had already begun implementing staff and salary cuts..."

"The position is affiliated with the Department of Global studies programme, and involves teaching Russian language courses to undergraduates and postgraduates from beginner to upper intermediate level."

I am extremely skeptical of these reports. Absolutely not clear what's the source of the claim. More importantly, in November Oreshnik was used to make a statement (in response to "long-range strikes"). I don't see it's launched out of the blue www.forbes.com/sites/davida...

"A memo from the attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued during a wave of orders on her first day in office but not previously reported, said the effort, known as Task Force KleptoCapture, will end as part of a shift in focus and funding to combating drug cartels and international gangs."

Several Wisconsin Head Start programs still can't access funds after Trump's federal freeze www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

Interesting personal account from lawyer and activist Mikhail Benyash about his decision to move on from civil society work while in emigration and get a blue-collar job smashing holes in old apartment buildings. He's encouraging other exiled Russian journalists and NGO workers to do the same.

"Abramova is anticipating the risk that these funds may be permanently cut off. 'Exiled media are even more in a fragile position than others, as we can't monetize our audience and the crowdfunding has its limits — especially when donating to Meduza is a crime in Russia,' Abramova stresses."

Hi, I’m the new English editor at Doxa Journal. We’re launching a weekly newsletter with original reporting, in-depth analysis on Russia. Our first issue features an interview with Kevin Lick, who, at 17 became the youngest person in Russia ever charged with treason.

Politico getting destroyed by the Trump administration after they burned every molecule of credibility getting him elected would be one of the greatest self-owns in history.