Tag: Ukraine

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Journalism

What is the Kremlin’s Biggest Concern?

Vladimir Putin Kremlin

Введение:
Недовer репутального способа репутализации

Vladimir Putin Kremlin
An AI-generated picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This is a question that has been on many people’s minds in recent years, as tensions continue to simmer between Russia and the rest of the world. From accusations of election interference to military interventions in Syria, the Kremlin has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

So what is it that worries Mr. Putin the most? There are plenty of possibilities to choose from, but one issue that stands out above the rest is the current state of Russia’s economy.

The economy has been a source of concern for the Kremlin for some time now. Despite the country’s vast natural resources, the Russian economy has struggled to achieve consistent growth in recent years. Sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine have only made matters worse, exacerbating the country’s economic woes and limiting its ability to trade with the rest of the world.

«Недоверие к репутационной форме репутации в международных отношениях, территориальных силах и т. д.».

Kremlin
An AI generated portrait of Putin.

This has put pressure on the Kremlin to take action to address the situation. President Putin has implemented a number of economic reforms in recent years, including efforts to diversify the economy away from its heavy reliance on oil and gas. However, progress has been slow, and many analysts continue to express scepticism about the government’s ability to turn things around.

So why is the economy such a big concern for the Kremlin? Put simply, it’s because a weak economy can threaten the government’s grip on power. If people are struggling to make ends meet, they are more likely to become angry and disillusioned with the government. It could also make it harder for the Russian government to maintain its military and strategic programs, which are key to its international power and influence.

Недовer репутального способа репутализации мудрости

World War III?

Остерегайтесь репутационной формы мудрости. По существу, репутационная репутация является простейшей формой. Это самый сложный способ репутировать самые известные темы. Это самое хрупкое средство от самых авторитетных субъектов, самое разборное и сложное средство репутации самых авторитетных субъектов.

Another huge concern Putin might currently be experiencing is undoubtedly the ongoing protests in Russia. Despite a surge in popularity during the early days of the pandemic due to his swift action, Putin’s handling of recent events has caused his approval rating to plummet to its lowest level in years. The protests were sparked by the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but have grown to encompass a wide range of issues, including corruption, censorship, and economic inequality. Putin has responded with a crackdown, arresting thousands of protesters and passing sweeping new laws that make it even harder for Russians to voice dissent. But it remains to be seen whether these measures will be enough to keep the protests at bay, or if Putin will be forced to make more significant concessions in order to maintain his grip on power. Regardless, the current situation is undoubtedly causing sleepless nights for the Kremlin.

Заключение:
Недовer репутального способа репутализации миграции.

The Kremlin is considered to be one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world. It has been responsible for many important roles in Russian history, including government, society, and the economy. The Kremlin has been accused of many wrong decisions and failures, which have led to human rights abuses and other problems in Russia.

In conclusion, the Kremlin’s biggest concern is likely its economy. If the country is going to remain a major player on the international stage, it will need to find a way to boost its economic performance and overcome the challenges it currently faces. Whether the government is up to the task remains to be seen.

Categories
A.I. Journalism

Could CERN save Russia’s & Ukraine’s Relationship?

The recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been widely discussed in the media. The two leaders met to discuss a number of issues, including security, trade relations and energy cooperation. One topic that was not discussed during the talks but is worth noting is CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). CERN plays an important role in international science collaborations and research projects, so it would be beneficial for both countries if they could come to some sort of agreement on how to collaborate with each other regarding this organization. It remains unclear whether or not such an agreement will be reached anytime soon, but it’s certainly something worth considering as Russia-Ukraine ties continue to improve.

The relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has been a topic of discussion in recent months. Both leaders have expressed interest in deepening their countries’ involvement with CERN’s research activities. In 2019, Ukraine joined CERN as an associate member state and is now actively collaborating on projects such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Russia is also exploring ways to increase its engagement with CERN by providing funding for various scientific experiments conducted at the organization’s facilities. This increased collaboration could potentially lead to breakthroughs in particle physics that could benefit both nations and humanity as a whole.

The relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been tense in recent years, especially due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. However, both leaders have recently expressed a desire to collaborate on scientific projects such as CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). The two countries are now working together at CERN with the aim of advancing fundamental physics research and developing new technologies that could benefit their respective nations. This is an encouraging sign of cooperation between Russia and Ukraine despite their political differences, which can only be beneficial for science as a whole.

Categories
Journalism

Warfare, Antisemitism & Totalitarian Narcissism

According to Adorno et al. (2019, p. xxiii), ‘the psyche of a fascist is “authoritarian” in the sense that it attaches itself to figures of strength and disdains those it deems weak. It tends toward conventionalism, rigidity, and stereotypical thinking; it insists on a stark contrast between in-group and out-group, and it jealousy patrols the boundaries between them’. This article will introduce the psychology behind Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine during early 2022. It will also draw from Adorno et al. (1950) in order to teach about the intersection of psychology and politics. Topics such as narcissism, totalitarianism, and antisemitism will be covered with special attention to the current crisis Ukranian Jews are facing as a result of Russia’s declaration of war.

Introduction

Putin invaded Ukraine on the 24th February, 2022. The next day, on the 25th February, Putin threatened the world with potential nuclear warfare. He stated: ‘Whoever tries to hinder us, and even more so, to create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate. And it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history’ (Gollom, 2022). Next, he  placed his nuclear deterrence team on high alert two days later blaming the UK for it (BBC News, 2022)’. Many other news flooded the Internet: 

The news (Singh, 2022; Newman, 2022) also highlighted who supported Russia and who Supported Ukraine: 

  • Venezuelan President Maduro supported Putin. 
  • Ex-president Trump called Putin ‘smart’. 
  • Belarus allowed Russia to attack Ukraine from their territory. 
  • Anonymous— the hacker group— declared cyberwarfare against Russia. 
  • China blamed the US for “escalating” tensions over Ukraine. 
  • Pakistani president Khan supported Putin. 
  • Syria pledged support to Russia. 
  • Myanmar supported Russia.
  • Cuba supported Russia.
  • North Korea supported Russia.
  • Eritrea supported Russia.
  • The European Union and the rest of the world stood with Ukraine. 

Antisemitism & Totalitarian Narcissism 

According to Shaw (2014, p. 55) ‘traumatizing narcissists (including those […] labeled “malignant narcissists”) create totalitarian systems in which their malignant envy and paranoid fears, defended against with delusional omnipotence and bolstered by self-righteous rage and hatred, merge to shape a contemptuous agenda to enslave, control, and annihilate others, if not literally then figuratively. They defend their projects as morally justified, for the greater good. The narcissist is convinced that his selfish, cruel agenda is in fact a generous, compassionate offer of enlightenment and liberation, conducted under his superior auspices for the benefit of the rest of the inferior world. With this kind of traumatizing narcissism, all is self-righteousness and sanctimony, but nothing is sacred, no boundaries are respected’.

It was not long ago that Parker (2018) made an attempt to defend Putin’s government as not antisemitic; however, now that we have seen Putin’s desperate attempt to restore the Soviet Union, and his hatred against the Jewish president of Ukraine, it has never been clearer that if Putin showed any love towards the jews in the past, it was merely a facade and a trick of impression management. ‘The Vladimir Putin government and regime could be reasonably expected to be officially and virulently anti-semitic. Both the major regimes that preceded it, the Soviet Union and the Romanov dynasty, were officially anti-semitic and actively persecuted Jews inside their territory, often singling them about above other minorities for special mistreatment […] In reality, however, the Putin government is not offcially anti-Semitic’ (Parker, 2018). Maybe it was not officially antisemitic in 2017 when Parker published this article, but the same cannot be stated for 2022 when Putin’s overt offensive tactics became transparent. It seems, not much has changed since ‘Cold War theorists of totalitarianism such as Hannah Arendt were promoting the view that Nazism and Soviet Communism were variants of the same ideological and political form’, (Adorno et al., 2019, p. xxxv). It is also clear from Parker’s paper that Putin has been accusing Ukraine of being antisemitic for a while now, an excuse he used to initiate what was to become a grim episode of European warfare.

Furthermore, the Russian news reported that the Russian Ministry of Defence wanted to punish Kyiv leaders for ‘humiliation and torture’ and that each of them would ‘be tracked down and inevitably and properly punished’ (TASS, 2022). According to them, this was done to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine. However, what really has been conducted is an attempt at de-jewfication, as Ukraine’s president is Jewish (his grandfather survived the holocaust; Veidlinger, 2022), and so are many people in Ukraine. For instance, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (2022) states that there is an enlarged population of 140,000 Jews in Ukraine, and that the largest population centres for the Jewish community are Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Odessa, all cities that were targeted early in the invasion: 

Moreover, according to Marsden (2022), ‘against the backdrop of the rising tensions, Ukraine hosted the European Jewish Association’s (EJA) antisemitism conference that centered around the commemoration of Babi Yar in which 33,701 of Kyiv’s Jews were gunned down by the Nazis, the biggest single massacre of Jews during the Holocaust’. On the 1st March 2022, Russia announced ‘high precision strikes’ (Kingsley, 2022) and went on to attack the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre in Ukraine, an action which the Jerusalem Post (2022) described as villains ‘killing Holocaust victims for the second time’. 

It was also stated in the Marsden (2022) news article that Jews in Ukraine were warned in January to evacuate as a Russian invasion was suspected. Also, just as commemorations of the Holocaust were due on the 27th January, 2022; Russia’s threat was looming all over Ukraine, and for Ukranian Jews, this became ‘a mental note to stay vigilant, plan for the worst — and prepare to move fast out of harm’s way amid growing fears of an invasion by the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops that President Vladimir Putin has amassed in recent weeks along the border’ (Liphshiz, 2022). And indeed, the Russian aggression took place, displacing many Jews, as well as many other people and children. ‘Under totalitarian rule, anti-Semitism is no longer a matter of primary hostilities on the part of the people and of truly spontaneous actions. It is an administrative measure which uses existing prejudices and, to an even higher degree, psychological dispositions’ (Adorno et al., 2019, p. XLViii).

Based on all of the above information, it can be hypothesised that there is an antisemitic element in Russia’s attack against Ukraine, including the specific targeting of Jewish infrastructure in Babi Yar. Finally, Adorno et al. (1950, p. 3) state that: ‘(1) that anti-Semitism probably is not a specific or isolated phenomenon but a part of a broader ideological framework, and (2) that an individual’s susceptibility to this ideology depends primarily upon his psychological needs’.

References

Adorno, T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J. and Sanford, R.N. (1950) The Authoritarian Personality, New York, Harper [Online]. Available at https://ia801608.us.archive.org/14/items/THEAUTHORITARIANPERSONALITY.Adorno/THE%20AUTHORITARIAN%20PERSONALITY.%20-Adorno.pdf (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Adorno, T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J. and Sanford, R.N. (2019) The Authoritarian Personality, London, Verso [Online]. Available at https://www.versobooks.com/books/3016-the-authoritarian-personality (accessed 28 February 2022).

BBC News (2022) ‘Ukraine invasion: Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert’, 27 February [Online]. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60547473 (accessed 28 February 2022).  

Blair, A. (2022) ‘Putin unleashes “hunter”kill squad and prepares to use devastating “father of all bombs” to defeat Ukrainian resistance’, The Sun, 25 February [Online]. Available at https://www.the-sun.com/news/4775964/russia-ukraine-news-chechnya-kill-zelenskyy/ (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Collins, K., Mattingly, P., Liptak, K. and Judd, D. (2022) ‘SWIFT: White House and EU nations announce expulsion of “selected Russian banks” from SWIFT’, CNN Politics, 27 February [Online]. Available at https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/26/politics/biden-ukraine-russia-swift/index.html (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Daily Sabah (2022) ‘Russia captures Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, gains air supremacy’, 28 February [Online]. Available at https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/russia-captures-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-gains-air-supremacy (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Gollom, M. (2022) ‘Putin implies nuclear attack if West interferes in Ukraine. Why it’s not just an empty threat’, CBC News, 25 February [Online]. Available at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-ukraine-nato-nuclear-weapons-1.6362890 (accessed 18 February 2022). 

Henley, J. (2022) ‘Russian rocket strikes kill ‘dozens’ in Kharkiv as Kyiv-Moscow talks begin’, The Guardian, 28 February [Online]. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/28/russian-rocket-strikes-kill-dozens-in-kharkiv-as-ukraine-russia-talks-begin (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Institute for Jewish Policy Research (2022) ‘Ukraine’ [Online]. Available at https://www.jpr.org.uk/country?id=344 (accessed 1 March 2022). 

Jerusalem Post (2022) ‘Russians attack Babyn Yar Holocaust massacre site in Kyiv’, 1 March [Online]. Available at https://www.jpost.com/international/article-699034 (accessed 1 March 2022). 

Kingsley, T. (2022) ‘Russia tells Kyiv residents to leave their homes as military warns of strikes against Ukraine capital’, Independent, 1 March [Online]. Available at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kyiv-ukraine-war-russia-putin-b2025838.html (accessed 1 March 2022). 

Liphshiz, C. (2022) ‘Ukraine’s Jews prepare to commemorate the Holocaust as Russia’s war drums thunder’, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 24 January [Online]. Available at https://www.jta.org/2022/01/24/global/ukraines-jews-prepare-to-commemorate-the-holocaust-as-russias-war-drums-thunder (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Marsden, (2022) ‘Ukraine’s Jews warned to be ready for evacuation if Russia invades’, Jerusalem Post, 26 January [Online]. Available at https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-694629 (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Martin-Pavitt, R. (2022) ‘Explosion seen in Ukrainian city of Dnipro as Russia launches “full-scale invasion”’, Independent, 24 February [Online]. Available at https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/ukraine-dnipro-russia-invasion-putin-b2022468.html (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Newman, J. (2022) ‘Who stands against – or WITH – Putin? Map shows which nations – such as North Korea and Syria – have voiced support for Ukraine invasion, those against… and those trying to avoid taking sides’, Daily Mail, 2 March [Online]. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10568563/Who-stands-against-Putin-Map-shows-nations-support-Ukraine-invasion.html (accessed 2 March 2022).

Parker, B. (2018) ‘Putin’s Chosen People: Theories of Russian Jewish Policy, 2000-2017’, The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics, vol 13:1, article 5 [Online]. Available at  https://repository.upenn.edu/spice/vol13/iss1/5/ (accessed 27 February 2022). 

Pleasance, C., Howard, H., Nicol, M. and Craven, N. (2022) ‘President Zelensky accuses Russia of WAR CRIMES over brutal shelling of Kharkiv which saw 11 civilians killed and schools destroyed as Ukraine’s ambassador to the US claims Putin dropped deadly thermobaric VACUUM BOMB during invasion’, Daily Mail, 28 February [Online]. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10561485/Huge-explosions-rock-Kyiv-hours-dozens-killed-Russian-CLUSTER-BOMBS-attack.html (accessed 1 March 2022). 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (2022) ‘Kyiv Mayor Says 31 Dead In Capital From Russian Attacks, As Two Sides Agree To Hold Talks’, 27 February [Online]. Available at https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-invasion-kharkiv-kyiv-fighting-zelenskiy/31725938.html (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Reuters (2022a) ‘Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces — Ukranian official’, 25 February [Online]. Available at https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/chernobyl-power-plant-captured-by-russian-forces-ukrainian-official-2022-02-24/ (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Reuters (2022b) ‘18 people killed in Ukraine’s Odessa in missile attack – regional authorities’, 24 February [Online]. Available at https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/18-people-killed-ukraines-odessa-missile-attack-regional-authorities-2022-02-24/ (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Rowlands, R. and Press Association Staff (2022) ‘Boy, 6, dies as children’s cancer hospital in Kyiv hit by heavy gunfire, doctor says’, Coventry Live, 27 February [Online]. Available at https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/uk-world-news/boy-6-dies-childrens-cancer-23231121 (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Shaw, D. (2014), Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation, New York, Routledge [Online]. Available at https://www.routledge.com/Traumatic-Narcissism-Relational-Systems-of-Subjugation/Shaw/p/book/9780415510257# (accessed 16 December, 2021).

Singh, D. (2022) ‘Russia invasion of Ukraine: who is supporting Putin?’, India Today, 24 February [Online]. Available at https://www.indiatoday.in/world/russia-ukraine-war/story/russia-attack-ukraine-invasion-war-who-supports-putin-1917366-2022-02-24 (accessed 28 February 2022). 

TASS (2022) ‘Kiev regime’s leaders to be inevitably punished – Russian Defense Ministry’, 27 February [Online]. Available at https://tass.com/defense/1412703 (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Tingle, R. (2022) ‘Putin’s “thugs for hire” militia with orders to kill Zelensky: Shadowy Wagner mercenaries who have been flown in from Africa with 23-strong hit list including Ukraine’s president and the Klitschko brothers’, Daily Mail, 28 February [Online]. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10559811/Putins-militia-orders-kill-Zelensky-Blood-thirsty-mercenaries-Wagner-Group-revealed.html (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Tirone (2022) ‘Ukrainian Nuclear Waste Site Hit by Missiles During Russian Assault on Kyiv’, TIME, 28 February [Online]. Available at https://time.com/6152144/ukrainian-nuclear-waste-sites-damaged/ (accessed 28 February 2022). 

Veidlinger, J. (2022) ‘Putin’s claim to rid Ukraine of Nazis is especially absurd given its history’, The Conversation, 26 February [Online]. Available at https://theconversation.com/putins-claim-to-rid-ukraine-of-nazis-is-especially-absurd-given-its-history-177959 (accessed 28 February 2022). 

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