My mom forwarded me this piece from the New York Times a few days ago. It describes the problems of poverty and lack of access to modern technologies in some regions of Russia and depicts people as living in a more-or-less forgotten era–i.e. using wood stoves, having no running water, having a child wedding. I find these descriptions, and the format in which it’s presented, striking, and illuminating of Russia’s complexities. I really don’t know much about Russian history, culture, or politics, and this piece sparked my interest in learning more about the nuances of the wide range of cultures present in this country. One highlight was a woman’s description of Putin’s visits to his vacation home in the impoverished area in which she lives: “Fluttering her hand toward a patch of sky, she described a magical scene of communion between ‘the sovereign,’ as she called him, and his people: His helicopter flies so low that when tourists call out to him from the ground, he actually answers.”

http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/13/russia/

I have chosen this article for two reasons: one, I do not agree with excessive deforestation and illegal deforestation because two, it leads to the endangerment of animals. Animals are extremely important to me, and in Russia, the Amur Tigers’ lives are being threatened by illegal deforestation. Logging in an important aspect to the Russian economy; Putin considers the vast amount of forest “the powerful green lungs of the planet”. The problem is that there are companies that are cutting the wrong type of tree, too many trees, and cutting trees in the wrong area. I am worried about the Amur Tigers (Siberian Tigers) because they are loosing their habitat and their food supply. The excessive destruction of the forest takes away the nuts that the Amur Tigers’ prey feeds on. The worst part of this story that has drawn me in is that United States companies are using the wood. The furniture and flooring that we put in our houses is directly impacting the lives of the Tigers. These are important animals to Russia, as is the logging business, but the logging needs to be better controlled.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/22/239665474/in-russias-vast-far-east-timber-theives-thrive

In a move that is reminiscent of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin is now working towards increasing relations with Egypt in response to the USA’s severing of much of its military aid to Egypt. During the Cold War, this same pattern occurred several times, most notably in Cuba. After the Cuban Revolution which put Fidel Castro in power, the new leader desperately sought diplomatic relations with the USA. However, because the United States could not be certain of Castro’s intentions (and the country was proclaimed to be Communist), the US never attempted to form ties. The Soviet Union was then all too willing to step in and provide Cuba assistance.

This article presents a reminder that the state of US-Russia diplomatic relations is still very similar to that during the Cold War. It is a reminder that Russia is still extremely powerful and is looking to regain some of its international influence. The ambitions of Putin and Russia are still large, and with Putin seeking influence in every Middle Eastern country, especially those that the United States has vacated, Russia could quickly become a global superpower again.

http://www.jpost.com/International/Report-Putin-seeking-to-resume-Russia-Egypt-military-ties-amid-US-vacuum-329822

A prominent figure for music in the 20th century as well as Russian culture, Dmitri Shostakovich was a brilliant musician who deftly mixed tonal music prevalent in the Romantic period along with the modernistic movement of atonality and chromaticism (the balance of all 12 tones in a musical scale). After watching his opera, The Nose, at the Middlebury Theatre this weekend, this video interested me because it is hard to find videos of him dissecting performances due to his conflicts with the Soviet government. Moreover, his music is particular because of the various layers of tonality that expresses his view of the world around him (as shown by the opera rehearsals), especially that about the Soviet regime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjK7Hnxpmsg

This article follows a conference in St. Petersburg about the Jewish history that Russia was very public about before the iron curtain went up. My interest in this article stems from the fact that I have never really heard anything major on the topic of Jewish culture in Russia but the prospect of that becoming more evident in the news is rather exciting. I also enjoyed this article because it spoke of the near future of the Jewish community and how it looks like the culture is beginning to flourish once again after having been “stripped of their identities” during the 70 years of communist rule.

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Russias-culture-capital-sees-Jewish-revitalization-329821

Russia is often times considered to be the ballet hub of the world. Ballet is a huge part of the culture, and aspiring ballerinas from all over the world dream of being trained there. This video goes inside the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in Russia. As a ballet dancer, I am especially interested in this part of the Russian culture. Having trained for 15 years with Russian ballet instructors, I found this video to be fascinating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OLn-Lxdot8

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/26/sports/soccer/russias-world-cup-spotlight-dimmed-by-new-racism-accusations.html?_r=0

This New York Times article describes racist attitudes that Russian soccer fans seemingly hold towards black soccer players and helps to describe the scope of the lack of tolerance some Russians still display. Apparently, there have been multiple instances of fans throwing bananas and making monkey sounds at black athletes when they have matches in Russia. Even Russian soccer players themselves are said to make racist comments to black players. Where do these intolerant feelings arise from? What does this say about Russia as a whole? What will happen in the future, when the World Cup and Olympics are held in Russia? I find it infuriating that blacks are being compared to monkeys in the twenty first century. I chose this article because of how many questions it raises about Russia and their values, however, it is important to realize the racism is not definitive of all Russian citizens. In fact, some deny the accusations, saying there was never any racist intent. While this may have truth behind it for some fans and citizens, there is no doubt a false facade established to avoid negative publicity and an intolerant Russia lurking beneath.

This article from the “Moscow Times” describes how Moscow denied allegations that head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture, Yury Zaitsev, sought to convert young Americans into Russian intelligence spies. The conflict increases tensions in the already complicated relationship between the U.S and Russia, with some even saying the situation is reminiscent of the Cold War. However, the Russian cultural center in Washington D.C. is an example of efforts to improve relations and understanding between the two countries. I chose this article because it shows how the effects of the Cold War have lasted even in the most recent times. I find analyzing how the U.S. and Russia interact extremely interesting because neither can fully trust the other due to their past and cultural differences.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/moscow-denies-us-based-diplomat-sought-young-spies/488401.html

This article is about a Russian plan to have small nuclear energy plants on barges out at sea. This caught my eye because there has been so much debate about alternative energies, and nuclear energy has become a very real concern in the past couple of decades. While a nuclear plant on a ship seems at first like a convinent and smart way to power Russia (and potentially other countries), the article raises several concerns, including the ability of the ships to withstand storms and possible terrorist attacks. As we have seen several times, most recently in Fukushima, nuclear meltdowns are disasterous on land and in the sea. I was reading a few days ago about how even two years after the Fukushima meltdown in Japan, tuna being caught off the coast of California are still radioactive. Clearly nuclear power plants have a lot of risks, and I’m not sure putting one on a ship in the ocean is the safest idea. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/10/131023-russia-floating-nuclear-power-plants/