Tag: Russia
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Ukrainian Occupation: Worse Than a Crime, It’s A Mistake
by Nicholas Sooy When Napoleon executed Louis Antoine in 1804, a decision which turned the European aristocracy against Napoleon, an advisor reportedly quipped “It’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake.” Former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, an architect of the War in Vietnam reportedly quipped the same thing about Vietnam. A full-scale invasion […]
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IOCC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Lifeline to Russia
by Theodore Theophilos Over the course of the last few years, the relationship between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate has been severely strained. Disputes involving Ukraine; the Great and Holy Council of 2016; the opening of ROCOR churches in Korea, France and Italy; claims of “Third Rome” status and allegations of Caesaro-Papism—the list […]
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On Religious Freedom, Is Russia the Next Saudi Arabia?
by Hannah Gais As Donald Trump’s newly-minted administration struggles to adhere to a concise foreign policy, an independent commission has thrown yet another cog in its long-lost dream of a productive relationship with the “very smart” Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a recently released annual report issued by the United States Commission on International Religious […]
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ROCOR Commentary on the February Revolution: Blame the West and Link Putin to the Tsars
by Lena Zezulin It is sad, if understandable, that the Russian state and society remained almost mute on the anniversary of the February/March 1917 Revolution. There is no consensus on those events. It should therefore be welcome that the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which has existed independently outside the Soviet state, professed anti-communism, […]
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The Russian Church: Profiting by Silence
by Sergei Chapnin Last Sunday Russia saw a wave of protests against corruption in the upper echelons of power. Masses took to the streets ignited by the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Foundation titled “He is Not Dimon for You,” which focused on the alleged corrupt affairs of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The outcome of these […]
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A Time for U.S.-Russian Repentance?
by John P. Burgess Tens of thousands of people gathered in Orthodox churches throughout Russia on Sunday, February 26th. In the church that I attended, the priest spoke of a God who invites humans to confess their sins and make a new start. As dozens of flickering candles cast gentle shadows into the darkened room, […]
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Why Is the Church Silent about Anti-LGBT+ Violence in Russia?
by Katherine Kelaidis There are a lot of really good reasons to ban FIFA ’17, including the bevy of corruption scandals that seem to plague the governing body of the world’s most popular sport. But a group of Russian MPs, many from Vladimir Putin’s own United Russia Party, have managed to seize on the most […]
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The European Union, Russia, Religion, and Fear
by Kristina Stoeckl On 23 November 2016, the European Union Parliament passed a resolution entitled EU strategic communication to counteract anti-EU propaganda by third parties. In one part of this resolution, the signatories deplore that the Russian Government is employing a wide range of tools and instruments, such as think tanks and special foundations (e.g. […]
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After the Yarovaya Laws: The Russian Orthodox Church and the “Traditional Values” International at a Crossroads
by Christopher Stroop | ру́сский One of the strangest aspects of Vladimir Putin’s third term as president of the Russian Federation has been the emergence of Russia as the global standard bearer for so-called “traditional values.” Many commentators, pundits, scholars, and Russia watchers have had difficulty coming to terms with this shift. While certain left-wing […]
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Putin’s Unorthodox Orthodoxy
by Aristotle Papanikolaou and George Demacopoulos | ру́сский Yesterday, the New York Times published an essay exposing and critiquing the ways that Vladimir Putin is exploiting Orthodox Christianity in order to project international significance. In the summer of 2014, we raised these issues in an op-ed piece we wrote for a blog hosted by the Greek Orthodox […]