“Great. Where should I send it?”

“To the department investigating why you have any.”

#politicalSatire #power #censorship #darkhumor

At the beginning of July, historian Konstantin Pakhalyuk’s book «In Search of »Russian Antiquity«» was included in the longlist for the «Provetitel» prize. With the kind permission of the publisher Chișinău: The Historical Expertise, which republished the book after its de facto ban in Russia, we are publishing the chapter «State Memory Policy in the Conditions of the ‘Conservative Turn’ (2012 — early 2022)», which explains why cynical Russian politicians and bureaucrats needed events from long ago.

#Analytics #VladimirMedinsky #VladimirPutin #power #ideology #Study #Russianhistory #conservativeturn #rent #RussianMilitaryHistoricalSociety #SergeyNaryshkin

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The daughter of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, is once again in the spotlight of the world’s media. She has been summoned to a Swiss court in a corruption case. Bringing this case to a close would make it possible to return about a billion dollars to the country’s state budget. But in Tashkent they refused even to temporarily release Karimova from prison. The reason may not be only about money: many representatives of today’s Uzbek elite began their careers back under Islam Karimov and were, in one way or another, connected to his daughter. Her testimony is more dangerous for them than the loss of a billion.

#Analytics #power #GulnaraKarimova #notKarimov #corruption #aftertheUSSR #successors #SaidaMirziyoyeva #uzbekistan #CentralAsia #ShavkatMirziyoyev

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There are women in the country ready to change politics and society. But mostly, only those who do not challenge the system make it into power. Dissenters are pushed out of politics or subjected to repression.

#activizi #AnnaPolitkovskaya #ValentinaMatvienko #ValentinaTereshkova #power #state #democracy #dictatorship #Europeanvalues #women #patriarchy #Putin #repressions #Russia #feminism #essay

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In addition to the anniversary of Alexander II's main reform, it was recently 145 years since his assassination. Yet in the Russian information space, there was hardly any mention of either the abolition of serfdom or the fate of the Tsar-Liberator: his policies do not align well with the beliefs of the current authorities.

#1861 #power #state #civilsociety #historicalmemory #Russianhistory #theendoftheworld #criticofcapitalism #liberalreforms #monarchy #abolitionofserfdom #TsarLiberator #essay

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On February 27, 2015, politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead in the center of Moscow. Since then, Russia has changed radically—not only politically, but morally as well. This crime became the point after which the authorities realized: nothing will happen for killing an opponent.

#BorisNemtsov #VladimirPutin #power #WarinUkraine #warinChechnya #violence #Nemtsovka #memory #policy #criminalpunishmentandpunishment #Russia #securityforces #murder #essay

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After the resignation of the head of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchybek Tashiev, President Sadyr Japarov has begun a sweeping purge of officials. The apparent goal is to bring the entire system of state governance under his control and become the sole center of power. Achieving this won’t be easy: over the past five years, Tashiev concentrated a significant share of managerial and economic decisions in his own hands, and it’s far from clear that Japarov will be able to fill this vacuum—or hold on to power.

#Analytics #power #corruption #sell #Saharabypass #aftertheUSSR #securityforces #specialservices #CentralAsia

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A «mask show» took place at the editorial office of Kazakhstan's largest independent media outlet, Orda.kz—just like in Russia in the 2000s. Let's figure out what happened: was it a private case of a «business conflict,» or a systematic attack on freedom of speech?

#business #power #GulnatBashkenova #Kazakhstan #acrisis #MaksatGaniev #media #aftertheUSSR #CentralAsia #electoralcycles

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A hallmark of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes is a lack of taste and complete insensitivity to what happens to people. Along with a passion for regulating everything, which extends into controlling everyday life relationships. Uniformity very often turns out ugly. But here’s the problem: the state has launched a reboot of neo-totalitarianism in a modernized and diverse society.

#ValentinaMatvienko #ValentinaTereshkova #power #state #children #dictatorship #fashion #society #postmodernism #Parents #family #school

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The whole world is watching the feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. The businessman criticized the president’s new tax bill, which Trump calls the «Big Beautiful Bill.» Musk dislikes that it increases the U.S. national debt and also removes tax breaks and subsidies for electric vehicle manufacturers. The rift escalated to the point where Musk hinted that Trump might be involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophilia and sexual coercion case (though he soon deleted those posts). In response, Trump threatened to cancel government support and terminate contracts with Musk’s companies. Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity, and others have received at least $38 billion from the government over 20 years.

#spacex #tesla #business #power #DonaldTrump #elonmask #scandals #USA

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If we set aside ideological grievances against Elon Musk and try to impartially look at the path he has taken over the past few years, it can be quite disheartening. Not so much because of his series of personal failures, which ultimately led to the erasure of his reputation and distancing from the White House, but because of the failure of the very concept of bridging innovative business with politics. A concept that until recently seemed so meritocratically attractive and promising. ‍

#business #power #DonaldTrump #elonmask #conflict #USA #essay

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