Constantine Pleshakov - The Japan Times

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Sep 9, 2000

I know very little about judo. Actually, I know nothing about it at all. Yet I like the image of two people wearing cool outfits accentuated by stylish belts, circling the mat with stony faces, waiting for the right moment to jump at each other like two splendid bobcats. It is undoubtedly the sport of the bold. And of the smart. And, in my opinion, of the noble.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Aug 24, 2000

Handling of Kursk fiasco belies Putin's promise of change

"Shameful and disgraceful" -- these are the words many Russians are using now to describe the attitude of their government toward the sunken nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea. Slow and incompetent rescue attempts, an inability to assess the scope and nature of the damage and, above all, a stubborn unwillingness to accept foreign assistance -- all these descriptions characterize the Kursk rescue attempt and reek of the worst days of the infamous Soviet regime.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Aug 12, 2000

Bush makes Moscow nervous

The election year is disrupting the normally smooth, quiet summer in the United States. Newspapers replace Harry Potter books as beach reading, Republican and Democratic conventions dominate television, the two parties are finalizing platforms, the two candidates exchange mutual verbal abuse, voters watch and comment. Liberal-minded bookstores already display signs like "No more Texans," although Al Gore also gets his share of poster criticism.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 27, 2000

Wily Putin seduces the world

Josef Stalin hated international travel: He suspected somebody might attempt to kill him. Nikita Khrushchev loved it: He enjoyed shocking foreign hosts with his erratic behavior. Leonid Brezhnev was happy to travel to any country that would give him a new Mercedes as a state gift. Mikhail Gorbachev had no other option but to travel widely, because Raisa felt a constant urge to parade her new clothes in front of smart crowds. Boris Yeltsin did not know whether he liked to travel or not, because after the third shot of vodka all capitals looked the same to him.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 15, 2000

President Putin's 100 days

It is hard to say what counts as the beginning of Vladimir Putin's presidency. When Boris Yeltsin stepped down Dec. 31 and Putin assumed his regency over Russia? The presidential election in March, when he won a landslide victory? May, when he was inaugurated? It is probably best to pick some date in the middle; in any case, it is fair to say that Putin has already had his first 100 days.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 18, 2000

The end for Kim Jong Il?

My trip to North Korea 11 years ago was one of the most depressing times in my whole life. I have never seen a sadder country. It was not simply an issue of appalling poverty: In 1989, the shelves of stores in Moscow were also barren, and Beijing still sported a maze of miniature slums -- the notorious "hutongs" where foreigners inevitably got lost and slightly nauseated. The sadness of North Korea was of a different kind; it was the sadness of a people scared to breathe.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 11, 2000

A summit of little consequence

The recent summit held by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin resembled a rendezvous of two ships moving in opposite directions. Putin has just reached the epicenter of power, Clinton is departing. Putin has just begun his historic record, Clinton is finishing his. Putin is riding a tide of popularity while Clinton remains in power due to the sheer magnanimity of legislators in the wake of his impeachment. Putin's name is normally accompanied by flattering adjectives like "assertive" and "aggressive," while Clinton is simply known as a "lame duck."

COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jun 4, 2000

U.S.' unfathomable gun laws

Russians and Americans like to emphasize similarities between their two nations: size, patriotism, the sense of a mission, a passion for casual dress and so forth. But in some ways, Russians and Americans live on two different planets. In spite of increased interaction, extensive travel and shared cultural space, quite often the two peoples gasp at each other's behavior, failing to understand its causes and rationale. Muscovites and New Yorkers may share a fascination with Princess Diana, Madonna, Viagra and Walt Disney, but they'll never see eye to eye on the most simple matters -- like how much ice to put in a drink (a typical Russian response would be: "No ice at all").

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Nov 13, 1999

A cynic's guide to survival

For a writer, Russia is a treasure trove. It generates the most improbable story lines, the characters it harbors make Hollywood action heroes seem anemic, and its history is a thrilling mixture of triumph and tragedy. The country has seen the apostle Andrew and Adolf Hitler, Emperor Napoleon and Mongol riders, Peter the Great and the Vikings. It has been part of the Great Game and the space race. It has experienced all possible kinds of regimes: absolutism, early republicanism, theocracy, communism, Nazism, democracy, you name it. No matter what you are writing about -- porcelain, engineering, the navy or ballet -- Russia will yield research riches. Provided you survive the process.

COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Oct 24, 1999

Farewell to Russia's final Romanov

Few years in recent Russian history have been as turbulent as 1999. In five months, from May till October, the country has seen three different prime ministers, an Islamic fundamentalist invasion in Dagestan and five terrorist assaults against Russian cities that cost the lives of 300 civilians. In the shadow of these developments, few noticed an event that in a calmer year would have made big news: the death of the last remaining Romanov in Russia.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Sep 5, 1999

Yeltsin's would-be successors

In December, Russia's Parliament will hold elections. Deprived by the constitution of any true political authority, the Duma is still important as a collective opinion-maker. In 1993-1999, it became an ongoing anti-Yeltsin show, the most prominent podium for any sharp criticism of the president. As a legislature, the Duma may be not too prominent because Russia is now being governed by presidential decrees rather than laws passed by the Parliament. But the Duma plays a key role in molding the preferences of Russia's voters.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Aug 1, 1999

Russia's Navy lists in port

There is only one place where modern submarines dock in Venetian canals, the replica of Aya Sofya is home to a naval theater company, and young people date in the ruins of old Scandinavian forts. Few small towns have such a special destiny, but Kronshtadt, situated on barren Kotlin Island, a mere 29 km from St. Petersburg, is one of them.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 14, 1999

The Russian capital's bazaar economy

Every nation has a dream. For Iraq, it is a world oil crisis. For Croatia, it is NATO membership. For Serbia, it is a tornado hitting Washington, D.C. As for Russia, its dream is to be recognized as a part of Europe.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 15, 1999

Everyone loses but Milosevic

Recently, the Croatian government issued an angry statement saying that the continuation of NATO's air raids in Yugoslavia jeopardizes the Croatian economy: Thousands of Western tourists will cancel their bookings at the beach hotels on the spectacular Adriatic coast of Croatia and go to Spain or Morocco instead.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 1, 1999

Russia's new paranoia

If one nation is totally infuriated by the current bombing of Serbia, it's Russia. After numerous assaults by angry crowds, the imposing building of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Moscow now looks like an expensive piece of furniture despoiled by a wild party, its walls covered with ketchup and ink. It is unclear whether the assailants paid for the ketchup and ink bottles out of their own thin wallets, or whether these weapons were distributed by some generous political mogul. Both may be true: Rank-and-file Muscovites are very angry indeed at the U.S. government, and practically every politician in Russia is happy to capitalize on the crisis in the Balkans.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 20, 1999

The squirrel or the eagle?

Thirty-five years ago, during the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," China's Chairman Mao Zedong announced the coming of an uncompromising global struggle between the City and the Village. China, in Mao's eyes the best country in the world, symbolized the sturdy and righteous Village. Haughty and corrupted America stood for the cruel and ugly City.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 7, 1999

Is patience a Russian virtue?

Amid the apocalyptic news about Russian pensioners being unable to afford any medicines beyond traditional folk remedies, Russian workers not paid salaries for months and Russian children in the on the verge of starvation, one piece of news is conspicuously missing: reports of mass protests. It is true that nowadays Russian voters support only those political candidates who proclaim themselves fierce opponents of the federal government and its disastrous economic policies. An occasional Communist rally may assemble up to 10,000 volatile sympathizers. In a local grocery store, one is very likely to come across an old lady liberally sharing her views on "these scum in the government" and her nostalgia about the Soviet past when she used to be able to pay her bills. However, this is a far cry from the antireform mass movement that was predicted by many experts after the financial collapse of Russia last August.

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