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 ›

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 ›