North Asia

Russian political scientist and ultra-Putinist Gleb Kuznetsov published an article in the magazine Gosudarstvo (The State) where he explicitly states that “the separation of powers, competitive elections, and freedom of speech prevent the state from functioning effectively.” He points to the example of Shenzhen, “one of the most controlled cities in the world” as a model.

In Majluu-Suu, the historic factory that symbolised the electrification of the Soviet Union promoted by Vladimir Ilič is on the verge of closing down for good. Incandescent light bulbs, once exported abroad, have now been replaced by LED bulbs produced in China. The Kyrgyz authorities are seeking to convert the factories, but almost 60% of the city's inhabitants have now emigrated in search of work.

According to Dugin and Soloviev, the former Soviet republics ‘have no right to independence’ and must reunite with Russia to avoid becoming slaves to China, America or Europe. Local governments have issued only feeble protests, invoking the ‘spirit of strategic partnership’. The suspicion that the two propagandists are saying ‘what the Russian leadership does not want to express openly, but which in reality corresponds to its plans’

The poet and translator Irina Jurčuk, a native of the city of Kharkov on the border between the two countries, the epicentre of the ongoing conflict, has published her book ‘The Overpass’ in Kiev, an anthology in which she combines texts by contemporary Russian and Ukrainian authors with translations and her own bilingual rhymes. It is a way to rediscover one's true identity, without being destroyed by abuse and claims.

The Vietnamese leader pledged support for joint efforts to bring peace to Gaza. He promised to work closely with his country’s former enemy in various areas in line with both sides' needs and priorities. Among Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have joined the new body.

As was the case with the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, Moscow is not going beyond statements of circumstance on what is happening in Venezuela and Iran, two historic allies. The Kremlin's criticism is now directed almost exclusively at Europe and NATO, without involving Washington's responsibilities to any great extent.

From Kabardino-Balkaria to Chechnya, new attacks by individuals or Islamist groups have been reported in recent months. But there is also controversy over the methods of repression, with the use of torture and the data itself, which some believe has been exaggerated to replicate the sense of insecurity that led to Putin's rise. Meanwhile, it is precisely war and economic instability that fuel radicalism.

With the golem mired in the swampy mud of "serving, praying, and giving birth”, it is impossible to trust sociological surveys with increasingly less accessible statistical data. As the rift between Russia’s optimistic majority and a significant pessimistic minority persists, the prevailing view is that "everything will remain as it is today”. Kirill voices an apocalyptic perspective while the fight continues against the "demon" Bartholomew.

The assault on the television centre in January 1991 definitively ruined the plans for perestroika, also giving Gorbachev the reputation of a dictator and persecutor of the freedom of peoples, destroying his image as a reformer. After Lithuania, it was the turn of Latvia and Estonia, with Yeltsin himself signing an appeal to the UN on the unacceptability of military interference. Today, this conquest of freedom and civilisation remains a faint memory.

For the moment, Russia tends to downplay the scope of US Coast Guard operations against its ghost tankers, which are withdrawing from the Caribbean seas to circumvent sanctions, limiting themselves to circumnavigating Eurasian territories. But advocates of war view the abandonment of “friendly countries” with concern, fearing the risk of being left with only North Korea at its side.

The “Donroe doctrine”, as enunciated by Trump, now corresponds perfectly with the principles of Putin's Russkij Mir: both the US and Russia assess the countries within their sphere of influence, be it the American double continent or the former Soviet Eurasian space, as countries to be controlled, conquered, invaded and exploited.

Although Rosstat has decided to keep the data secret until 2025, many independent demographers believe that the decline in the Russian population is accelerating. The only areas bucking the trend are the Muslim-majority regions of the North Caucasus. Where religious practice is already much more intense than among the faithful of the Orthodox Churches.