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Nina L. Khrushcheva
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2013
At last, Russia wins the seal of French approval
President Vladimir Putin has finally done it. Russia has been vying for the West's esteem for centuries, with approval by the French — a sought-after prize since the time of Peter the Great — coveted the most. But, despite the defeat of Napoleon and the World War I alliance, Russia could...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2011
Remembering the towering walls of August
History's milestones are rarely so neatly arrayed as they are this summer. Fifty years ago this month, the Berlin Wall was born. After some hesitation, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union's leader, allowed his East German counterpart, Walter Ulbricht, to erect a barrier between East and West Berlin in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2011
Are the meek set to inherit Russia?
In a recent interview, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proclaimed that he wants a second term in office following the 2012 election, but that he would not run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who put him in power in the first place.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2008
Triumph of the totalitarian will in Beijing
MOSCOW — When the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games begins this week, viewers will be presented with a minutely choreographed spectacle swathed in nationalist kitsch. Of course, images that recall German leader Adolf Hitler's goose-stepping storm troopers are the last thing that China's...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2008
Putin's unwilling executioner?
NEW YORK — The question that has dominated Russian politics, and world discussion of Russian politics — will he (Vladimir Putin) or won't he stay in power? — has now been settled. He will and he won't.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2007
Once again, musical chairs at the Kremlin
VIENNA — It's that time again: Russia's pre-election season when prime ministers are changed as in a game of musical chairs. The last one seated, it is supposed, will become Russia's next president. As the end of his rule approached, Boris Yeltsin went through at least a half-dozen prime ministers,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2007
Yeltsin: a hero of his time
NEW YORK -- Boris Yeltsin was utterly unique. Russia's first democratically elected leader, he was also the first Russian leader to give up power voluntarily, and constitutionally, to a successor. But he was also profoundly characteristic of Russian leaders. Using various mixtures of charisma, statecraft...

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