In Moscow's Shadows 122: Taking on Conventional Wisdom About Putin
After looking at a few recent news stories that caught my eye, on everything from the Ministry of Happiness to a surprisingly subversive economic plan, I look at four conventional wisdoms about Putin....
12 Nov 202342min
In Moscow's Shadows 121: Making Sense of Makhachkala
What can we learn from the ugly anti-Semitic riot at Makhachkala airport? Officially sanctioned, foreign-inspired subversion, a symptom of state failure or societal anti-Semitism? I don't think any of...
4 Nov 202351min
In Moscow's Shadows 120: Putin is Dead! (well, probably not)
In what sounds more like a scene from Armando Ianucci's Death of Stalin, an anonymous Telegram channel tells us Putin is dead, his body stuffed into deep freeze while Patrushev takes over. Credible? N...
29 Okt 202343min
In Moscow's Shadows 119: Manifestos to the Left of me, Manifestos to the Right
Alexei Navalny has posted a list of 10 questions he thinks all movers and shakers in the Russian (opposition) political scene ought to be asked ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. His questions,...
22 Okt 202358min
In Moscow's Shadows 118: Clueless in Gaza - Russia and the current Middle East crisis
A quick and early episode looking at what roles and goals - if any - Russia has in the current Hamas-Israel war. The bottom line is that Russia was not behind the terrorist invasion, doesn't really kn...
14 Okt 202342min
In Moscow's Shadows 117: Security Politics and the President Who Can't Change His Spots
The Russian police are increasingly under pressure. The National Guard is getting into the mercenary game. There is talk (probably empty) of Wagner being reconstituted under Evgeny Prigozhin's son Pav...
8 Okt 202346min
In Moscow's Shadows 116: Putin's "Forever War" (which isn't)
The easy cliche that the Ukraine conflict may become a 'forever war' is a convenient notion for Putin - it may help dismay his enemies, and provides an organising principle for 'late Putinism.' To par...
1 Okt 202351min
In Moscow's Shadows 115: Kadyrov and the Conflict Entrepreneurs
Is Kadyrov dying? If so, who might replace him - and what may this mean for Russia. If Chechnya again becomes unstable, will Putin be faced with a choice of losing in Ukraine or in Chechnya? In any c...
24 Sep 20231h 2min
