Thirty years ago, in 1979, the Persian Gulf was a tinderbox. On January 16, following months of uprisings, the Shah of Iran was overthrown. One month later, it looked like Afghanistan’s turn. The Soviet-backed thugs running the country had imposed radical social reforms, sparking a civil war and threatening pro-Soviet rule...

In most countries, Independence Day conjures up images of grand celebration, fireworks, family get-togethers, parades and so on. These celebrations commemorate the declaration and establishment of sovereignty by a colony or nation occupied and governed by another nation. This is not exactly the case with Russia's Independence Day.

With time, we are finding out more and more about the events that led to the recent Russo-Georgian War in the Caucausus. Two very good recent accounts have been published...

Last Thursday, after several days of skirmishes and confrontation in the breakaway region of Ossetia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral cessation of hostilities. Hours later, however, Saakashvili ordered his armed forces to undertake a full-scale assault on Ossetia...

Radek as a Source of Information

This morning, Vermont Public Radio called to interview me about Solzhenitsyn's legacy and his life in Vermont. I had just interviewed his wife, Natalya Dmitrievna, while in Moscow in May. We had planned to run that interview in our Nov/Dec issue, to coincide with what would have been the author's 90th birthday. But now we will push it up and run it in our Sep/Oct issue, which goes to press this week. 

Document between Russia and Japan, May 5, 1986.

It did not seem like such a big deal at the time, Russia declaring its sovereignty on June 12, 1992. Everyone was doing. Maybe that is why so few people can remember the holiday now...

This ancient river town long stood at the crossroads of Russian commerce and travel. It may even have once saved Rus' from the Horde. Today, it has a more modest goal: reclaiming its heritage and becoming a thriving tourist destination.

Had history taken a different turn, today's western reaches of British Columbia might instead by the southeastern tip of the Russian empire. Nathaniel Christopher explores the impression Russia left behind in Vancouver and British Columbia.

In the 2002 film Oligarch, by Russian director Pavel Lungin, the main character predicts his own downfall, saying, "Russia is a bear. You think you are playing with it and it devours you."

Joseph Stalin was born December 21, 1879, in Gori, which is now in the Republic of Georgia. His birth name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Around 1910, he took on the name Stalin which means man of steel. Iosif is a common Eastern European and Russian spelling for Joseph. Stalin's parents were peasants who, hoping for a better life for their son, sent him to the Gori church run school {1888-1894}.