Today, I present another document from my research into the history of Russian defeatism. The document in question is an excerpt from an article by Vasily Maklakov published in the emigre journal Sovremennye Zapiski in 1931. Maklakov was one of the most prominent Russian liberals of the revolutionary era. A well-known lawyer, he served as Continue reading A people that would accept defeats at the…
After a break of several months, I have returned to the pages of Canadian Dimension magazine, this time with an article commenting on the resignation of British prime minister Keith Starmer. You can read it here.
Aeons ago, when the Cold War was still waging and I was an undergraduate student at Merton College, Oxford, the College chaplain Mark Everitt, who doubled as tutor of Russian language, had me read the memoirs of the famous Russian populist revolutionary Alexander Herzen (1812-1870). In his opinion, Herzen was not just an important historical Continue reading Herzen and the Defeatist
Yesterday I had a chat with George Szamuely and Peter Lavelle for The Gaggle on the topic of my latest book Russian civilizationism. I think that the result is an intellectually stimulating discussion. You can watch it here:
Next in my publication of specimens of defeatist Russian thinking is a poem published last week by well-known Russian emigre writer Dmitry Bykov. The Russian version comes first, followed by a translation with footnotes. In 2025, Bykov was added to the Russian government s list of terrorists and extremists and sentenced in absentia to seven years Continue reading There are no good Russians
In a previous post about Russian defeatism, I divided the Russian émigré opposition into two main factions. On the one hand there is a group centred on the Free Russian Forum led by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. This is quite open about its desire to see Russia defeated in its war in Ukraine. On the other hand, Continue reading Misopatria and the patriotic transformation of Yuliia Latynina
As previously mentioned, I will be presenting a paper on Friday this week at a conference in Chicago in memory of Richard Pipes. Below are details of the conference. It will be broadcast live online, so if you wish to attend, zoom links for the two days are also provided below. Day 1: Richard Pipes Continue reading Richard Pipe s Memorial Conference
I have had the good fortune recently to receive a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to undertake research into the topic of Russian defeatism. The project should last 3 years and will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr Oleg Beyda of the University of Melbourne, author of the recent Continue reading Russian Defeatism Project
‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.’ William Shakespeare. One might say the same about identity. You are born with one, and over time you acquire another one due to what you do, but it’s not a matter that’s entirely in your control. Your identity is thrust upon Continue reading Issues of Identity
A couple of articles by me have appeared in print this week. The first contains my thoughts on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney s speech announcing the death of the rules-based international order . You can find it on the website of Canadian Dimension magazine here. The second is rather more substantive, and is an academic article Continue reading Latest articles