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I was an observer yesterday in a Yekaterinburg voting station. I had been trained at a local Alexey Navalny headquarters (video example of training), but was officially an observer from Grigory Yavlinsky.
As an observer, I had the right to make suggestions to the Chairman of the Voting Station Committee. In case a suggestion is not considered, an observer ...
158
The reasons given by @zidadawatimmy's answer aren't wrong, but the points made in the original post are also well taken. As your decision to post this question in this forum illustrates, this is also a quintessentially political act.
These chemical and radioactive weapons seem unusual, complicated, and
draw attention.
This is a feature and not a bug.
...
155
What's the big deal?
The UK government believes that the government of Russia sent military personnel onto its territory to kill UK citizens. There's a word for one country sending its military into another country uninvited, and the word is "war".
To make matters worse, this killing was carried out using chemical weapons. These are Weapons of Mass ...
132
This relates to the Russian government's controversial decision to declare that the majority of workers should not go to work in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also mandating that these workers should still be paid by their employers.
As this Reuters article puts it:
“They say ‘pay the salaries’, but no one explains where you’re
supposed to ...
111
After the Crimea annexation, the social media trolling during the US election and the recent Skripal incident, the public image of the Russian government in the western world turned from bad to worse. So the comparison between Putin 2018, Putin 2012 and Medvedev 2008 is not necessarily appropriate.
Trump is under suspicion of colluding with the Russian ...
109
The relevant US law is the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which covers agents who act "at the order, request, or under the direction or control" of a foreign power.
Therefore, institutional and editorial independence is the key.
If the UK Prime Minister tells (say) an employee of MI6 or the Foreign Office to do something, that person is required to ...
109
Essentially, you got a permanent seat on the Security Council if you were one of the major powers who won WW2 and went about setting up the post-war peace organisation, i.e the United Nations. When the Soviet Union (which was a union of multiple soviet republics) dissolved, Russia claimed itself as the successor state on the grounds it contained 51% of the ...
102
Skripal was a double-agent who used to work for the Russian secret service GRU but defected to the UK intelligence service MI6. He was arrested by the Russians in 2004. In 2010, he was officially pardoned and exiled to the UK as part of a prisoners exchange. So he is unlikely to still possess any not yet revealed intelligence which still has any value.
...
99
One of the primary functions of government is to protect its residents from capricious actions of foreign governments.
In fact, one of the tests for a government to be recognized as sovereign is that they reserve for themselves a monopoly on the use of force within their boundaries. Many governments refuse recognition of the various aspirational Palestinian ...
90
Complaining is Cheap, Building is Expensive
Simply put, it takes very little money and effort to complain, even on a diplomatic stage. (This is also why the most common reaction to a problem on the international stage is an expression of deep concerns.) It makes RF look more peaceful than it is, implicitly puts a defensive spin on some of the military ...
85
Israel has a complicated relationship with Russia, which it doesn't want to hurt.
Russia is a major supporter of Assad's regime in Syria, which is aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, Israel's bitter enemies (see here). Yet, Russia does not interfere when Israel operates in Syria against them.
Russia is also a significant importer of Israeli produce, as well ...
76
In January 2010, a team of Israeli government agents travelled to Dubai, UAE and, in a highly-sophisticated operation, assassinated a senior official of the terrorist organization Hamas.
Dubai police were able to describe the operation by piecing together surveillance videos, which were released to the public.
Israel was subject to widespread international ...
76
For many countries, the decision to attend or not is deferred to the national football association. The countries that you mention don't require exit visas, so it would require an exceptional act to prevent the football players from attending the World Cup in Russia. The government can attempt to influence the football association, but it is not a matter ...
67
While Trump in general has been supportive of Putin and the Russian government, there are several specific policy reasons that they supported him.
Trump will weaken US commitment to NATO
For Vladimir Putin, the election of Donald Trump may undermine the NATO military alliance. Trump has said that the U.S. would not automatically defend its treaty allies ...
67
This is how I see it: The joke works just as well in English as it does in Russian. It is making fun of Putin (and maybe at the same time complimenting him), but how?
Suppose a rich man walks into a bar. If he is the right sort of person, maybe he says “Drinks on me!” and buys for everyone.
Suppose another case, the owner of the bar gets some good news. ...
64
This is a great question about both politics and history. It relates directly to the changing nature of what a "country" is. First, let me directly answer your questions:
Given that France, Germany and the UK have larger economies than that of Russia, why do they spend less in defense than that of Russia and always seem to be scared of Russia?
...
61
When country A imposes sanctions on country B, both suffer (though the suffering may not be equal).
The main reason these sanctions are more damaging for Russia than for the US is that it isn't just the US that's imposing sanctions on Russia. There are also the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, Norway, to name just a few other countries.
Consider the extreme ...
58
The short answer is yes. It does matter where the information comes from
There is a legal difference because a campaign cannot take something of value from a foreign agent. But that is off topic.
It makes a big difference politically because of the ongoing investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian Government. As such it fits a ...
58
Everyone knows what a gun looks like
They are relatively easy to detect, and security personnel may be trained to better spot those carrying a gun. Acquiring a gun, especially for foreigners, can be especially difficult. Sneaking one into the country is more difficult.
Knives are similarly "obvious", and require a close range attack.
In either case ...
57
It may help to turn it around. Suppose Vladimir Putin is poisoned and Russia suspects the UK as the culprit. How would Russia respond to a suggestion from the UK that they "help" Russia investigate? From Russia's perspective it would probably seem to be a pretty disingenuous invitation as it would do nothing but give the UK leverage over the investigation to ...
56
Top five trading partners for the United States by imports:
China
Mexico
Canada
Japan
Germany
If we replace Germany with the European Union as a whole, the EU would be second.
Top five trading partners for Russia by imports:
China
Germany
US
Belarus
Italy
The US is Russia's third largest foreign supplier, even with sanctions. And two US allies (...
56
A missile defence system that can intercept ICBMs is a tricky proposition. ICBMs move very high (above the atmosphere) and fast. Hitting them in the orbital coasting phase is nigh-on impossible, certainly for ground-based interceptors. Hitting them in the terminal phase is possible, since their trajectory is well defined at that point, but problematic ...
55
First, who is #2 is highly subjective, if you discount nuclear arsenals.
Second, this question is like asking Compared to a Ferrari a Mustang outruns tons of Priuses, Civics and SUVs. And it costs a lot less.
Does that mean a Mustang is anywhere close to a Ferrari in speed?
The US is, by virtue of its spending, #1, no question. It deliberately has ...
answered Feb 29 at 2:59
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
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54
Update - WH Statement
According to the White House spokesperson Sean Spicer, Trump seemed to have requested the resignation of Flynn due to a "trust issue".
President Donald Trump asked for Michael Flynn's resignation after he lost trust in his national security adviser for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his calls with Russia's ambassador, the ...
54
I'm not sure there's anything more than expert opinion as an answer:
Levada sociologist Karina Pipiya told BBC Russian: "There is growing nostalgia for the Soviet period and Stalin as a leader. Stalin is seen as the main figure who defeated fascism, who gets the honours for victory in the Great Patriotic War. And that war victory is a symbol of national ...
53
First of all, there's a difference between recognizing that Crimea is a Russian territory and recognizing that Crimean residents are Russian citizens. Taking up the Russian citizenship was voluntary and the EU or the US cannot dictate whether or not a given person can become a Russian citizen by choice. There are still hundreds of thousands of dual Ukrainian-...
53
Disclaimer: I'm no expert, this answer is based on my modest understanding of the situation at play.
The OPEC decision to cut oil production was meant to keep prices high: if every OPEC country were selling all the oil they could, it would drive prices down since there would be more supply than demand. So if every OPEC country agrees to sell only a limited ...
49
Telegram is a lot more popular in Russia compared to Whatsapp within the opposition circles. It is used by many people whom the Russian government wants to keep track of, as evidenced by the fact that two factor authentication was added as a response to hacking attempts against Russian activists.
Telegram was founded by an opposition activist Pavel Durov ...
49
There is currently a power-play going on between the EU and Russia concerning the political influence over the countries between them.
The most visible struggle is certainly the Ukraine conflict. But there are also other countries in the geographic region of not-quite-Europe-not-quite-Asia which are currently wondering whether they should side with Russia ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
