Free Republic

Ultranationalism among Russian youth and, to a lesser degree, in party politics as well as nascent official activity against xenophobia are receiving increasing attention by Russian and Western observers. Alarmed by the growing number of victims among foreign students, visitors from abroad and immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Americas, the Putin administration has started to take action against escalating skinhead violence. The Kremlin-directed Russian mass media reports now on a daily basis about attacks on foreigners and their—often, still hesitant—persecution by the procuracy. There is also frequent information on various central and local campaigns (concerts, demonstrations, meetings, etc.) to...

Although the quest for or preservation of "democracy" is often used as a justification for war, history has incessantly revealed that such a quest is often little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to install a puppet regime. Nazi leader Herman Goering once remarked that it was easy to lead people into war, regardless of whether they resided within "a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist dictatorship." All that was required, Goering argued, is for their government to "tell them they are being attacked, and [then] denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to...

Is there freedom of the press in Russia? Sure - as long as you don't upset the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin, like President Bush in the U.S., is usually surrounded by a press pool. But what many don't know is that his pool — unlike American reporters who cover the president — lacks the freedom to perform its essential role as a watchdog on government. During a joint news conference with Putin in Slovakia this week, Bush was challenged by a pair of Russian pool reporters over his assertion that key freedoms in Russia were disappearing under Putin's rule....

The Kremlin has been accused of trying to buy up Russia's print media in order to quell anti-government criticism after it was confirmed it would soon acquire Izvestia, one of the country's oldest and most influential newspapers. Liberal commentators said yesterday it was a canny move on the Kremlin's part before the end of the year when serious campaigning for the 2008 presidential election is expected to begin. Most of Russia's TV networks are already perceived to be government-controlled but parts of the print media, including Izvestia, have managed to remain fairly independent. Izvestia, founded in 1917, has been one...