Alexander Domrin (Iowa): Corruption in the Name of Democracy: The USA and Russia in the 1990s. The Conspiracy Channel: With a larger staff than Fox News, a worldwide Russian TV network spreads a unique brand of anti-American propaganda. Whether Russia is simply behind America — and will soon follow it into cultural decadence — or is truly charting an independent course remains to be seen. A review of No Precedent, No Plan: Inside Russia's 1998 Default by Martin Gilman. A review of The Red Rockets' Glare: Spaceflight and the Soviet Imagination, 1857-1957 by Asif A Siddiqi. A review of books on Russia. Mikhail Zakharov on Russia's multicultural myth. Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan on Russia’s very secret services. Sword or Samovar: A monthlong journey through Russia's killing zone. Who was behind the mysterious bombing in Belarus? "Europe's last dictatorship": Alexander Lukashenka's departure from the path of liberalization required by the EU's Eastern Partnership programme suggests Russian pressure on Belarus. Little-known and often misreported, Belarus under Lukashenko is a well-kept secret — a booming country that blends the best of modern life with a controlled economy (and more). Despite its position out on Europe’s eastern flank, Belarus has historically and culturally been at the heart of European civilisation. As Ukraine is now demonstrating, after revolutionary euphoria fades and normality returns, democratic revolutions can be betrayed and reversed. Legends of Kiev: Angela Kennedy on the stranger side of an ancient capital. A review of Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams by Charles King. Bridge over the Dniestr: Walter Kemp on confidence-building measures in Moldova. The lands autocracy won’t quit: Autocrats in the former USSR show that ousting a dictator doesn’t always bring democracy.
