Constantine Pleshakov - The Japan Times

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Dec 11, 2003

MOSCOW -- Last Sunday's parliamentary elections in Russia have resulted in a sweeping defeat of democracy and a new start for the Russian nationalists.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 29, 2003

Coup ushers in uncertain era

MOSCOW -- A former Soviet republic, Georgia, is in the limelight again. Outraged by an allegedly fraudulent parliamentary election, protesters toppled the government of President Eduard A. Shevardnadze and installed an interim administration led by a number of opposition leaders.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 24, 2003

Navigating the deep Internet

MOSCOW -- There could hardly be a tougher opponent for a struggling college professor than the Internet. You ask your students to write an essay about Moscow, and you end up with the papers based on sources like www.moscow-taxi.ripoff.com and www.moscow-hotels.dump.ru. When, fuming with rage, you inform the students that Moscow was not founded by Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Princess Diana was not Ivan the Terrible's fifth wife, they sound mildly apologetic, but by the tired look in their honest eyes you know that they will plunge into the same disastrous online search when they do readings for the next essay, too.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 2, 2003

Slippery prop for democrac

MOSCOW -- The arrest last weekend of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the richest man in Russia and the owner of the oil giant Yukos, shocked the international business community, enraged domestic opposition groups and sent Russian currency and bonds into a frightful free fall.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Oct 12, 2003

Keeping score on first ladies

MOSCOW -- Throughout the past 60 years or so, the problem-ridden relations between the White House and the Kremlin have been burdened with one more factor: the rivalry of the first ladies.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Sep 28, 2003

Welcome to 'Mother Sofa'

MOSCOW -- Moscow seems to have the biggest concentration of furniture stores per square kilometer in the world. Downtown is a cramped place, with barely enough space for designer clothing and jewelry boutiques. Yet, in the peripheral neighborhoods, furniture stores thrive.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Sep 14, 2003

An evening like any other at the Bolshoi

MOSCOW -- Already the environs of Bolshoi are very telling. Downtown Moscow recently got a cheap face lift, and all its one-time numerous kiosks that supplied the Russian capital with the mercurial atmosphere of a grand bazaar are gone or, rather, have been displaced into dark alleyways and underground crossings.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Aug 17, 2003

Black widows striking back

MOSCOW -- Animalistic labels stick to terror. Adolf Hitler's commandos were called werewolves; terrorist cells in Turkey in the 1970s, gray wolves; now the Russian media have christened Chechen female suicide bombers black widows.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 20, 2003

'Potter': the order of parents

MOSCOW -- It is normal for a parent to distrust the things kids like. Having heard enthusiastic reports about some new product, be it a toy, computer game or movie, an average parent issues a suspicious grunt, thinking that it is probably overpriced, stupid and aggressive, and that the kid will never benefit from anything popular.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 30, 2003

An irrational space odyssey?

MOSCOW -- Of all the arms races humankind has been involved in, the one in space has been the most bizarre. If a person is interested in a case study of unintended consequences, one could hardly find a better subject. Scientific curiosity, imperial dreams, down-to-earth geopolitics, interests of commerce and personal vanity -- to name just a few driving forces of the exploration of space in the 20th century -- have created an amazing topsy-turvy world that only gets crazier.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 16, 2003

St. Petersburg may rule again

MOSCOW -- St. Petersburg, the former capital of Russia, has turned 300. Founded in a Baltic swamp at a frightening cost by the only outstanding Romanov reformer, Czar Peter the Great, it remains the architectural wonder of the nation. The "Venice of the North," as St. Petersburg was labeled in the 18th century by awe-struck foreign visitors, proudly commands the shores of the Neva and its channels. It is a magic jewel set in the darkness of the northern night.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

May 20, 2003

Iraqi revival will cost Russia

MOSCOW -- It is a commonplace to say the war in Iraq was not only about former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but also about oil. No matter how dangerous Hussein's regime was and how badly the White House needed an impressive victory for the 2004 elections, oil -- as today's key commodity -- was very much on U.S. President George W. Bush's mind when he commanded the attack on Iraq. Yet, for some countries, oil is practically the only part of the Iraqi equation they are interested in; Russia is a good example.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 30, 2003

Pyongyang's actions shock few observers

MOSCOW -- When you are told that a person whom you don't know has won the lottery or lost a job, your feelings are pretty predictable and simple: Envy in the first case and empathy in the second. Yet if the person in question is somebody you know, your reactions get more complicated. You immediately start calculating whether the recent episode fits what you know about the person; if it does fit, you don't dwell on it much longer; if it doesn't, you become painfully perplexed.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 16, 2003

Surviving victory in Iraq

MOSCOW -- It is, of course, unknown how future Western and Arab writers will treat the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, and whether U.S. troops or the people of Iraq -- or perhaps neither side -- will be proclaimed an eventual winner. In any case, there is every reason to believe that the battle for Baghdad will be considered historic.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 6, 2003

Will Hussein go out quietly?

MOSCOW -- Last week a number of American officials were saying that the war in Iraq was not unfolding as quickly as had been hoped. The remarks sound like excessive modesty because the war has actually proceeded much more smoothly than its opponents predicted.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 9, 2003

Sordid offspring of Uncle Joe

MOSCOW -- Wednesday was the anniversary of Joseph Stalin's death. The sordid man who for 30 years held the Soviet Union in an iron grip expired 50 years ago, but still casts a long shadow.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 24, 2003

Hardest part will be rebuilding

MOSCOW -- A homeowner's golden rule is buy or build -- but never rebuild. The costs of adding a closet to your kitchen almost equals your mortgage; additional insulation ruins your budget; a new bedroom kills your credit.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 8, 2003

Wanted: hosts for U.S. troops

MOSCOW -- Foreign-policy alignments have gone mad worldwide. A bizarre diplomatic coalition consisting of Russia, China, France and Germany now confronts the United States, Britain, Italy and Poland. Who could have imagined such a combination just 10 years ago besides readers of political thrillers? Now the only person who laughs at the most improbable conflict is Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, for it is he who has provoked the great divide in world politics.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jan 6, 2003

Little progress, little protest

MOSCOW -- The Russian capital is gridlocked. This grim observation applies both physically and metaphorically: The city cannot manage its traffic, and the nation cannot handle its problems.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Dec 7, 2002

NATO's Balkanization begins

MOSCOW -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established after World War II to protect Western Europe from a possible Soviet invasion. Once the Soviet empire crumbled, it was left without a purpose. In the euphoria of 1989-1991, it seemed that democracy and humanism had triumphed throughout Europe, and that peace on the Continent would rely on jet fighters and cruise missiles. But then Yugoslavia and other Eastern bloc nations descended into ethnic conflict. Russia chose nationalism as its new ideology. It soon became apparent that it was too early to disband NATO.

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