This article first appeared in the 7 January 2009 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
This article first appeared in the 7 January 2009 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
There’s a fuzzy perception of Russia today as being like a teenager “going through a bad patch.” Squabbling with its neighbours, inclined to throw its weight about, not fully reconciled to the loss of the Soviet Empire, overkeen on the trappings of wealth, but nothing it won’t – given a bit of time – grow out of. Having observed the fall of communism with some relief, many Western observers have been prepared to indulge the Kremlin’s post-Soviet antics, “throwing shapes” while it adjusted to a new reality. Continue reading