I have done yet another interview about Russian liberalism, this time for the Russian Rulers History Podcast. This interview’s focus is more historical than contemporary, so it is a bit different from the others. There is a small confusion early on when I say ‘Russian conservatism’ when I mean ‘Russian liberalism,’ and then there are some technical issues at the end, but otherwise I think that it is a good discussion that covers ground not covered in other talks. You can listen to it here.
Military Aspects of the War in Ukraine
Next week is a busy one. As well as my zoom webinar with Anatol Lieven on Tuesday (details in an earlier post and here), I’ll be giving a presentation on Thursday morning on the topic ‘Military aspects of the war in Ukraine’. This is part of a conference on the subject of ‘Foreign Fighters in the Former Soviet Union’, and my talk is designed to provide a bit of context for that.
If you are interested in viewing the presentation and/or the rest of the conference, and you are not in Ottawa, you can attend online. Details of the conference and registration are available here.
And Another Podcast
If you are glutton for podcasts about Russian liberalism and can’t get enough of my voice, here’s another one that I have just done, this time for Cornell University Press. Listen here.
Latest Podcast
Forthcoming Event
Book Talk: The Tragedy of Russian Liberalism
OCTOBER 17, 2023
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
ZOOM WEBINAR
The failure of Russian liberalism to achieve political hegemony in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union marked a crucial disappointment for Western hopes and ambitions concerning Russia’s future and opened the way for President Vladimir Putin’s very different approach to rule. To discuss the historical and contemporary roots of liberalism’s failure, Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute is joined by Professor Paul Robinson, leading expert on Russia and author of a foundational study of Russian liberalism. Dr. Robinson’s book Russian Liberalism charts the development of liberal ideas and political organizations in Russia from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It demonstrates that liberalism has always lacked strong roots in the Russian population, being largely espoused by a narrow group of intellectuals whose culture it has reflected, and has tended toward a form of historical determinism that sees Russia as inevitably destined to become like the West, and that has often failed to take account of Russian realities.
The conversation will take place on Tuesday, October 17th from 12:00-1:00 PM EDT.Â
Register for the event here.
30 Years Since the Yeltsin Coup
To mark the 30th anniversary of the events of 3-4 October 1993, which ended with tanks blasting the Russian Supreme Soviet into submission, I have written an article on the topic for Canadian Dimension magazine. You can read it here.
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Failure of Armenia’s ‘Colour Revolution’
In article published today by Canadian Dimension magazine, I discuss recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and what they mean. My thanks to Pietro Shakarian, Artin DerSimonian, and Benyamin Poghosyan for providing comments to use in the article.
You can read the article here
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Page 99 Test
British novelist Ford Madox Ford remarked: ‘Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you.’
Based on this quote, the ‘Page 99 Test’ blog invites authors to write a short piece about page 99 of their books and whether that page is representative of the work as a whole. The blog’s manager Marshal Zeringue asked me to contribute something about my new book Russian Liberalism and I therefore penned a little article on that topic. You can read the results here.
As summer comes to its end, best wishes for the autumn to you all.
Russian Liberalism Out Today!
My book ‘Russian Liberalism’ is published today.
You can order via the publisher’s website here or via Amazon.com here.
Back when ‘Russian Conservatism came out a few years ago, I did some wordclouds of key words and names, based on how often they appear in the index. Here are the equivalents for ‘Russian Liberalism’. Make of them what you will.
First, a wordcloud of names. Miliukov wins!
And next a wordcloud of ideas/concepts: Freedom and liberty come out on top. It is a book about liberalism, after all!
My take on Prigozhin
You can read my thoughts on the life and career of Evgeny Prigozhin in Canadian Dimension magazine, here.
IRRUSSIANALITY 