... entered service.
Referring to the periods before and after, we will be talking about “creative endeavors” of the Navy and the Air Forces, the two principal operators of strategic nuclear weapons both in the United States and the Soviet Union—the USSR, though, also had a separate service branch known as Strategic Missile Forces (the RVSN in Russian). This brings us to the brief observation that the Army (i.e., the land forces) was sidelined from any strategic missions in both countries, only receiving plenty of tactical WMDs. We also have to mention Project Iceworm, impressive in its scale,...
... the Soviet Union that don’t apply to Russia, such as what he described as Moscow’s need to feed half of the world despite local food shortages, as a benefit in its current situation. He sees the lack of dependent client states as an advantage in Russia's current situation.
“Georgia received the most money per capita in the USSR, and Ukraine received the most money in absolute terms,”
he explained.
“It is no coincidence that, with the loss of these subsidies, all of them became dramatically poorer.”
When it comes to China, Karaganov dubs the relationship a
“semi-alliance,...
... from Ukraine, along with Russians, occupied leading positions in other Soviet republics. Such historical experience significantly limits the ability of Ukrainian citizens to adequately assess their place on the map and in the balance of power next to Russia.
Now, 30 years after the disappearance of the USSR, all newly independent states, without exception, are at a stage when their behaviour towards Russia must become responsible, corresponding to real sovereignty. This, as we can see, is hindered by historical experience. In some cases, it manifests ...
... autumn of 1941 was a time of fatal mistakes by the Red Army command, a time of colossal military and civilian losses in the USSR. The events of that year have endlessly been recounted in great detail in history books, in personal memoirs of the people ... ... mysticism about this date, something that I could not explain even to myself, but that I feel keenly.
No other tragic date in Russia’s history evokes such an emotional reaction in me. Not October 25, 1917, when a revolution swept across Russia, plunging ...
... eliminated the Soviet Union, but it would not be equal to a disassembly of a unified country. Even if the Communist Party were disbanded, it was possible to keep the country united in a new form if the new regime that succeeded it was strong enough. The USSR was a good example itself, which was created on the ruins of the Russian empire by the Bolshevik party.
From a philosophical rather than a factual perspective, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was accidental, not destined. It means that the Soviet Union as a state did not reach the point of no return, having ...
... well as ethical notions, despite the fact that Russia’s military capabilities allow it to solve many problems without directly controlling territory. Russian policy is becoming more flexible. Despite the fact that ethically Moscow still perceives Russia and the other former republics of the USSR as part of a kind of community, the methods of diplomatic interaction and the depth of involvement in its partners’ affairs are already the result of a separate assessment of every situation. The CIS issue is disappearing from Russian politics,...
... Russia and China will also continue to contain what they perceive as US hegemony.
Marc Friedli
: Let’s talk about Russia’s neighbourhood, where, over the past two decades, the Kremlin’s influence has vanished in several states formerly part of the USSR. This year, Russia’s reaction to the protests in Belarus, another revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the war in Nagorno Karabakh was rather hesitant. What is Russia’s vision of the international order in its neighbourhood and how is this vision evolving?
Andrey Kortunov
...
... empires or urban civilizations of past centuries.
The Baltic republics were always on the sidelines — their independent statehood arose during the collapse of the Russian Empire and existed as such for almost 20 years before being incorporated into the USSR in 1940. Russia has returned to its historical state of being a major European power or empire of the 19th century, with the development of a multinational and multi-faith society central to its development objectives. In fact, Russia has not lost anything really ...
... was through the Arctic port of Arkhangelsk, since the Czardom of Muscovy lacked free access to the Baltic and the Black Sea. Russian polar surveys and expeditions have been conducted since the eighteenth century.
Development of the Arctic was particularly ... ... staked a claim to an enormous chunk of the Arctic: 6.8 million square kilometers of sea, declaring it the polar territory of the USSR. As a result, the territory of the Soviet Union grew from the furthermost continental points on the Kola and Chukotka peninsulas ...
... I wouldn’t be leaving Chile but would only be travelling to Chile’s Antarctic sector. Why didn’t the Soviet Union try to get a sector?
Sergey Lavrov:
Nobody tried to get any sectors. Antarctica, which was discovered 200 years ago by the first Russian expedition of Faddey Bellinsgauzen and Mikhail Lazarev, is a continent where international relations, as it was decided after long disputes, are guided by the Antarctic Treaty signed 60 years ago. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty sets out the principles ...
