You can read my latest piece for Canadian Dimension magazine here.
All posts by PaulR
The Ukrainian Conflict and the Demolition of Russian-Western Relations
Russia’s Ideological Conflict with the West
A few days ago, I took part in a discussion with Alexander Mercouris and Glenn Diesen of ‘The Duran’ about Russia’s ideological conflict with the West and other matters of philosophical significance. It is now available on Youtube, so you can watch it here, should you so desire:
Russian Liberalism Book Cover
I hereby unveil the cover of my next book, ‘Russian Liberalism’, which is due out on 15 September. I’ll keep you updated with further news on the book as the publication gets nearer.
Russia and the emergence of the post-Western world
My latest for Canadian Dimension magazine is available for you to read here. In it, I discuss Russia’s new foreign policy concept, relations with Africa, and an Ottawa student with the first name ‘Brezhnev.’
Happy Easter to you all!
How Western sanctions drove Belarus closer to Moscow
Way back when, I was a student in what was at the time the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. I even have a BSSR flag to prove the point. It would be interesting to go back one day, but the sanctions we have levied about Belarus might make it a little difficult. In my latest piece for Canadian Dimension magazine, I argue that those sanctions have done a lot more harm than good. Sadly, that’s par for the course when it comes to sanctions. But somehow we keep on doing the same failed thing.
If you want to read the article, you can find it here. As always, comments are welcome.
Looking on the bright side
With all the gloom and doom that is accompanying the anniversary of the start of full-scale war in Ukraine, I thought it would be good to lift the mood a bit and look on the bright side. Most of the world is doing ok. You can read my thoughts on the matter in my latest for Canadian Dimension here.
I hope it may lift your mood a little.
On the Essence of Legal Consciousness
| Dear friends and colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of this important new title: |
| On the Essence of Legal Consciousness, Second Revised Edition. Ivan Aleksandrovich Il’in Edited, Introduced, and Translated by: William E. Butler, Philip T. Grier and Paul Robinson x, 403 pp. Hardcover 2023 $150. ISBN 9781616196790 A title in the Studies in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Law series. Il’in’s classic work is the most impassioned and cogent work by a Russian jurist on the rule of law. The product of nearly four decades of labor, which could not be published in the former Soviet Union, this revised edition places the work in the context of developments since its first English translation in 2013. The text is accompanied by one of Il’in’s early and influential articles on law and power, a bibliography devoted to his life and work, and informed introductory essays about his contribution to the rule of law dialogue, the origins and transformations of the concept of legal consciousness and the fascinating history of his treatise on that subject. Click here for table of contents. |
| IVAN ALEKSANDROVICH IL’IN [1883-1954], sometime professor, Moscow Lomonosov State University, is one of the most widely-read legal philosophers of the twentieth century in post-Soviet Russia. WILLIAM E. BUTLER is the John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law; Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law, University College London; and author of numerous works on post-Soviet legal systems, including Russian Law and Legal Institutions (3d ed.;2021). PHILIP T. GRIER, who has written extensively on Hegel and Il’in and translated Il’in’s principal treatise on Hegelianism, is the Emeritus Thomas Bowman Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. PAUL ROBINSON is a professor at the University of Ottawa. |
What Future for NATO?
In my capacity as a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, I took part today in a webinar on the topic of NATO, Russia, etc. You can watch it below.
In response to my apparent negativity, which had other panellists referring to ‘Robinson doom’, I think it necessary to say that I am generally an optimist. I don’t think that the world is collapsing into disorder, that Western society is falling apart, that the Russians/Chinese/Islamic terrorists, whoever, pose a terrible threat to our very way of life, and so on. I am a pessimist just on one thing – Russian-Western relations. Those, I fear, are ruined for good.
Anyway, I hope that you find the discussion in the webinar productive.
The Blurred Reality of Russian Patriotism
In my first monthly article for Canadian Dimension magazine in 2023, I explore what you might call the ‘patriotic’, pro-war elements of Russia’s artistic and intellectual classes. Read here.
Happy new year to you all!
IRRUSSIANALITY 