Georgia’s roads
July 26, 2019 - Kaha Baindurashvili
July 26, 2019 - Kaha Baindurashvili
In 1855 a notorious ultra-conservative Ukrainophobe Count Peter Valuev, disgruntled with the humiliating experience of the Crimean War (1853–56) and the crumbling façade of the Russian imperial court, came up with a sobering essay, in which he rightfully captured the real state of affairs in 19th century Russia: “on the surface - glitter, inside - rot”. Indeed, it would not be a mistake to argue that the events that have befallen Kaliningrad over the past several months have made this formula fully applicable to this westernmost Russian region; in a sense summarizing the twenty five years of its post-Soviet development. This analysis seeks to provide an answer for the following question: does the image of Kaliningrad, as presented by Russian mass media and officials, have much in common with the reality?
October 20, 2016 - Sergey Sukhankin