☭ Russia Round-Up # 1 ☭

As I mentioned in my 2015 post, I will be incorporating more “think pieces” into Russian Dressing for the year. While my affinity for Russian culture is hugely visual/artistic/spiritual, I am also interested in the practical facts about Russia. In my new “Russia Roundup” series, I’ll feature links about Russian culture/history/politics that I find of interest. Today I primarily focus on Russian politics as of late:

This week:

• What you need to know about the Tsarnaev Boston Bombers trial: the actors involved & a lead in Tsarnaev's defense
• France wants sanctions on Russia to be lifted for Europe’s (and France’s) own sakes...remember that Russian geopolitics extends closer to Europe than America likes to acknowledge
• The UN estimates 4700 people have died since April 2014 in the eastern Ukraine conflict with Russia. 10,000 + have been injured; 610,000 have been displaced.

• Speaking of Ukraine, look at famed Soviet writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s take on Russian-Ukrainian identity and chilling premonitions back in Soviet times (old article)
• Politicized (and antagonistic to American "whimsical" holiday spirit) New Year's celebrations for the kiddies
• The state of the union on Russia's food market 
• Putin has already reached out to Obama in the New Year, but Obama is not-so-keen on "honoring Russia" 
• The ruble has plunged to it's all-time low today, down 4%. If you live in the US, notice how low gas prices are...see the charts
• Putin's 2015 New Year's Address
• Highlights of Russia's 2014

One of the most frustrating things as an American Russophile or merely as a person interested in what is going on in Russia, is the extremely biased discrepancies between Russian- and US-reported news. In addition to some faulty translations, the Russian and American media alike manipulate the news against the other. I am fortunate enough to understand enough Russian where I can spot the bias, but for most Americans who don't speak Russian/who tend to be antagonistic to Russia (which is probably not their own bias, but merely America's "objective" post- Cold War mindset) they'll never get the full story. The same goes for Russians-most Russians don't speak English, and those who have learned it sometimes don't learn it properly (if taught in Russia, where proper English teachers are rarer than you might guess). America and Russia are obviously two historically huge geopolitical superpowers, and given our history, Americans have never had much of a reason (with the exception of World War II) to embrace Russia...Russians on the other hand were cut off from the US for so long during the USSR that the "shock therapy" of democratization/capitalization in the 90s forced them unto the globalized yet US-centric world. By no means do I condone Putin's actions, but as an American citizen who loves Russia, it's very clear why we don't seem to understand Russians, Russia as a country, and of course, Putin. 

Check out RBTH, The Moscow Times, Russia Direct, and RT to keep up with Russian news/culture/etc from pretty unbiased and with excellent English translations. 

For an easy-to-ready and grammatically correct English-written account of Putinist propaganda, check out Sputnik. 

xo ♡ SFB