A Few Clarifications About This Blog
Due to caregiving responsibilities for a family member and my day job, I have, unfortunately, had little to no time to do any original work. (My original work can be seen here). Therefore, this blog has mostly consisted lately of cross-posting articles and analyses from other sources.
Based on some comments from readers, I’d like to reiterate some things I’ve said before that apparently bear repeating. First, I’m not pro-Putin. I’m also not anti-Putin. As I wrote previously:
As an analyst of Russia, I don’t see my job as providing people with emotional comfort. I see my job as providing factual analysis about Russia to the best of my ability. In this vein, I’m not pro-Putin or anti-Putin, but have tried to study and assess the Russian president based on the best information I could find, including the historical, social and geopolitical context of his governance. I’ve also tried to convey how Russians view him and why.
Consequently, it doesn’t make much sense to suggest that I’ve soured on Putin. I’m an analyst not a cheerleader. While it’s understandable that many people who read this blog acknowledge that Putin has done a lot of good for Russia and that western media reporting on him is typically very distorted and filled with vitriol, acknowledging that Putin is not some infallible god or may occasionally do things that aren’t perfect or are open to debate does not mean that one suddenly supports US hegemony or the CIA. There is also more to Russia than just Putin.
I expect that people who read this blog are adults. I expect adults to be able to read a variety of sources and analyses and use their discernment and critical thinking skills to draw their own conclusions. I expect adults to be able to deal with nuance.
I sometimes include sources that are critical of Putin or the current Russian government, such as The Bell, because even though they clearly have an anti-Putin bias, they occasionally have a critique that is worth considering. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Also, The Bell often includes important data and statistics that are useful to know regardless of your view of the current Russian government.
I’ve also occasionally included the work of Riley Waggaman, a writer who has lived in Russia for about a decade and used to work for RT. He provides reporting that indicates a more complex view from Russia, often citing links to mainstream Russian media sources and Russian critiques of Putin from the right – which is more common than authentic Russian liberal critiques of the Putin government. And I’ve still had some dismiss this as pro-western anti-Putin propaganda.
If you are solely looking for a daily dose of overly-simplistic analysis on Russia that is just a reverse image of mainstream western media, this blog may not be for you.
