Great news, Russia’s new (self-anointed) Czar, Vladimir Putin, and his loyal number two, Dmitry Medvedev, have decided to go Stalin on Russians’ ass. They’ve ordered the police to confiscate 100.000 copies of a book written by prominent members of the opposition, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov.

The reason, you ask? Well, they had the audacity to criticize Putin’s legacy.

That’s the way to go about these things, isn’t it? What do Milov and Nemtsov think, damnit!, that we’re living in the 21st century or something?

Putin’s right: no more criticism should be allowed. This whole “freedom of speech” thingy is greatly overestimated anyway. It’s not as if it’s vital for your happiness or anything to be able to speak your mind without fearing the government’s wrath.

Besides, those pesky books take such a long, long time to read.| MORE ›

This article on China and Russia by Professor Barry Rubin, is the most interesting analysis of international politics I’ve read this week:

China is very much motivated toward development rather than ideology or geopolitical ambition. It wants to get along with everyone as much as possible and make lots of money.| MORE ›

Oh no, this is an extremely dangerous development:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Georgia on Wednesday, almost a year after a war with Russia that turned the small nation on the far frontier of Europe into the epicenter of the simmering conflict between Moscow and the West.| MORE ›

AFP reports:

Russia on Saturday sternly warned its foes not to dare attempt any aggression against the country, as it put on a Soviet-style show of military might in Red Square including nuclear capable missiles.| MORE ›

Arthur Herman wrote one of the best commentaries on the war between Georgia and Russia I have had the pleasure to read. In his commentary Herman does not merely analyze why the war erupted, rather, he summarizes how Western politicians and pundits responded to the naked Russian aggression.

As Herman writes, Western leaders may have been hesitant simply because they are in a position of power.| MORE ›

This column is written by George Friedman and is brought to you by Stratfor.com.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Georgia and Ukraine partly answered questions over how U.S.-Russian talks went during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Russia in early July.| MORE ›

By George Friedman

The Moscow summit between U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ended. As is almost always the case, the atmospherics were good, with the proper things said on all sides and statements and gestures of deep sincerity made. And as with all summits, those atmospherics are like the air: insubstantial and ultimately invisible.| MORE ›

In military as well as physical terms, the arctic regions of the world have long been frozen in time. Other than as an undersea playground for Cold War games of hide-and-seek among submarines and its hosting of remote radar watchtowers for early warning of nuclear attack, the Arctic was rendered strategically unimportant by virtue of its extreme inaccessibility.| MORE ›

Adding to its much coveted resume as “Europe’s bridge to the Middle East”, Turkey has now been officially recognized as the facilitator of talks between Israel and Syria. Whether or not the Israeli media agrees with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s motivations for publicizing the existence of talks, Turkey can at least shine in the warm spotlight of international recognition for a few weeks. (more…)