Forbes contributor Mark Adomanis just wrote a refreshingly honest post about the fact that President Vladimir Putin’s polling numbers have not changed in the last 18 months – his popularity remains high, wavering around its current 65%. Yet, in spite … Continue reading
The G20 finance ministers and central bankers had quite a show to kick off their meeting in Moscow this past week. After a hiatus of about a year, several thousand Muscovites – and Russians in several cities across Russia – … Continue reading
My second day in Beijing dawned overcast, and the skyscrapers that had been sparklingly visible from my hotel window on the previous, sunny day disappeared in a murky funk of smog. Fortunately this was the day I would spend entirely … Continue reading
I recently visited Beijing, my first-ever glimpse of China. It was a very brief glimpse – only two days; but it was an unplanned, spontaneous response to an invitation to come and make a presentation on Russia’s development cooperation at … Continue reading
The parallels between Moscow and Montreal at the moment are startling; both have been experiencing a season of unprecedented protest, and both have seen legislative attempts to suppress that protest. While Quebec’s legislature has passed its Law 78 restricting freedom … Continue reading
A colleague of mine with Canadian connections yesterday sent me a link to a lovely video about “La Révolte des Casseroles”, Montreal’s creative protest against rising university fees and, now especially, Quebec Province’s Bill 78, passed on 18 May of … Continue reading
Moscow city police shut down Moscow’s seventh attempted Gay Pride Parade on Moscow’s Red Square yesterday, even though the city’s ban on the annual festival was declared illegal last year by the European Court of Human Rights. Moscow Gay pride … Continue reading
