Story Archives of 'Russia'

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Russia earlier this year, she gave the Russian foreign minister a big red “reset” button. In spite of a translation gaffe, the message was clear: the Obama Administration hopes to improve a tense relationship between the two countries.

During the height of the Cold War, American fears of a Soviet doomsday machine permiated popular culture. This ultimate weapon that would trigger an apocalyptic nightmare was the focus of the Stanley Kubrick satire Dr. Strangelove.

Wired editor Nicholas Thompson reveals new evidence of a real Soviet doomsday machine in his book The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War. Nicholas will be speaking at River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth on Monday, but before he heads up to the Granite State, he joins us from his office in New York.

The Hawk and the Dove website

Nicholas Thompson at River Run Bookstore

Lumber for the poor? Here in the U.S., the unemployed masses have food stamps and welfare to fall back on when unemployment checks run out.

But in Russia, local governments are looking for more tangible ways to help out-of-work citizens make ends meet. They are handing out everything from free plots of land to discounted lumber in an effort to keep social unrest at bay.

Andrew Osborn, Moscow correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, wrote about these unusual subsidy programs in a recent edition of the paper and he joined us on the line from Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal: Russia, a Lumbering Giant, Asks: Care for Some Cut-Rate Logs?

(Photo by sarniebill1 via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Russian poet and songwriter Yana Dyagileva – or simply Yanka, as she was better known—had a music career that only ran four years. But her songs had a lasting impact on the Russian underground music scene. She gained a following as her tapes were passed around hand-to-hand below the radar of authorities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But as the Soviet Union began to fall apart, so did Yanka’s personal life. She moved back to her family’s home in Siberia and isolated herself from the rest of the world. She was 24 years old when she went missing one spring day; A week later, her body was found in a nearby river.

Her music lives on, though, most recently through the voice of artist Alina Simone. Alina has released a full album of Yanka cover songs, and the new record is developing a following of its own. It’s called “Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware”, and Alina joins us live on Word of Mouth to discuss it.

A decade ago Russia struggled to be a force on the world stage. But now, fueled by vast petroleum reserves, the former Communist nation has become an economic juggernaut, unafraid to flex its muscles. But as its political clout has grown, Russia seems less committed to democracy and has drifted closer to its authoritarian past. We’ll look at Russia’s changing landscape, its larger role in the international community, and the country’s increasingly bumpy relationship with the United States.

Guests

• Lionel Ingram, former US Army Colonel and a senior lecturer in the Political Science department at the University of New Hampshire
• Ken Yalowitz, Director of the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College and a former ambassador to Georgia and Belarus

One hundred years ago this week, Japanese and Russian delegates came to our seacoast to hash out an agreement ending their war over territory. We'll examine this often overlooked treaty and its importance to New Hampshire and the world. Laura is joined by Chuck Doleac, chair of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Centennial Committee, and President of the Japanese-American Society of New Hampshire, and Bill Martel, Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. We will also hear from Marguerite Mathews, Artistic Director for the play "The Peace of Portsmouth" being performed at the Pontine Theatre.