The U.S. Foreign Policy Establishment’s Perception of Poland (1980-1981)
With the declassification of secret material after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, scholars are able to determine how accurate were the perceptions…
After the Cold War: U.S.-Ukrainian Relations (1991-2000)
Introduction This article is to examine the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine at the end of the Cold War. During this period, the U.S. was…
The Special Relationship: United States-Russia
A special relationship between the United States and Russia existed during the period 2001–2002, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. However, this…
Russia’s Lost Reformation
Russia's Lost Reformation: Peasants, Millennialism, and Radical Sects in Southern Russia and Ukraine, 1830-1917. Sergei I. Zhuk. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 2004. Suppressed by…
Religion, Morality, and Community in Post-Soviet Societies
Religion, Morality, and Community in Post-Soviet Societies. Mark D. Steinberg and Catherine Wanner, ed. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008. Since the collapse of the…
Nationalism and Religion in Post-Soviet Russian Civil Society: An Inquiry into the 1997 Law “On Freedom of Conscience”
What will be the contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church to the creation of a civil society in post-Soviet Russia? Much depends on whether the Russian Orthodox…
The Russian Empire (1721-1917)
The Russian Empire, which lasted from 1721 to 1917, spanned an enormous territory of almost 14 million square miles (36 million sq km) across the eastern portion…
The Russian Empire: The Amber Room
The original Amber Room was in the Catherine Palace: it was a chamber with amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. It was created from 1701…
The Russian Empire: Major Accomplishments
The Russian Empire was one of the largest empires in the world, spanning almost 14 square miles (36 million sq km) across eastern portion of Europe and…
What You Need to Know About Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Physician, playwright, philander, short story author, and prison reform advocate, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) lived a life full of paradoxes. He had a religious education but became…
The Problem of Stupidity in Chekhov’s Three Sisters
One of the continual challenges that confront critics of Chekhov’s Three Sisters is to locate a theme that unites the various elements in the play. The initial…
Consciousness, Memory, and History in Tolstoy’s War and Peace
The Second Epilogue Although nearly all have admired Tolstoy’s War and Peace since its publication, critics have been divided over whether the novel has an organizational principle.…
The Politics and Experience of Active Love in The Brothers Karamazov
Early reception of The Brothers Karamazov ranged from praise to condemnation, with most of the criticism and debate focused on Book V’s The Tale of the Grand…
Fathers and Sons: The Principle of Love in Turgenev’s Liberalism
The importance of place is often neglected by liberal theorists, with the assumption that liberal ideas are understood and articulated in the same manner from one society…
The Russian Empire Timeline (1721-1917)
1682 Brothers Ivan V and Peter I crowned czars 1695-1700 War with Ottoman Empire 1696 Ivan V dies, leaving Peter I as the sole czar 1696-97 Peter’s…