Prof @TuftsPoliSci. Post-communism, nationalism, identity, citizenship, memory, religion. New bk: 🇷🇺 and 🇺🇦 : Entangled Histories, Diverging States (Nov'23)
Aug 21 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Don't be duped indeed! Tankies & propagandists in hysterics abt “ban on Orthodox religion” in 🇺🇦 today, but let’s take a deeper dive into what actually happened. 🧵The law voted today creates procedure 2ban religious orgs w/ties to 🇷🇺. This isn't ban on Orthodoxy & ties to 🇷🇺 1/
2/ r not a requirement of Orthodox faith. If Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) chooses 2sever its ties w/Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) it will not be banned. And if it will not then it only goes to show that for its leadership ties to ROC, which is
Nov 2, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Many commentators who ignore 🇺🇦society, but Ukrainians holding interesting & nuanced views on many topics & these views shaped & will continue 2shape political processes in 🇺🇦. Here are some interesting findings from recent polls on democracy during wartime. 1/
Ukrainians in all regions agree that it's appropriate to criticize the govt during wartime for mistaken/incorrect actions.
Dec 28, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
russian ethnic minorities whose ancestors & families were victims of russian colonialism murder 4 "greater🇷🇺." Not a unique case in global history of colonialism, but how stable r such preferences? I would say it depends on broader political reality. 1/ 🧵
Not too surprising that association w/"stronger/more prestigious" group as a way to increase one's self-worth happens. That this "prestigious" view victimized you (or your ancestors) makes it tragic, but that's a separte point. But this self-association can be broken if 2/
Nov 27, 2022 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Today was 1932-1933 #Holodomor remembrance day. 90 years ago Stalin's regime intentionally starved some 4 million Ukrainians. 🇷🇺 atrocities in current war have many parallels but most direct one (using grain/food as weapon then & now) may not be the most important parallel.🧵1/
Key parallel is that both then & now 🇷🇺 is engaged in mass killing in order to subjugate 🇺🇦 & make its people conform to ideological project rulers in Moscow chose to embrace. All Ukrainians who do not fall in line - no matter the number - can be killed. 2/
Nov 19, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Ukrainian media interviews with people from liberated territories should be translated & shared more widely. These interviews convey essence of occupation & resistance. Store clerks displaying sponges in blue & yellow colors. Chechens burning hair on the head of man they detained
Collaborator eavesdropping on conversations of his colleagues in cancer hospital, then compiling list of Ukrainian patriots 2 give to the russians. Ukrainian flag hoisted 3 times on cell tower in occupied village, with russians eventually blowing up the tower to bring down flag.
Oct 24, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Misguided (& shameful) letter by a group of progressive Democrats full of wrong assumptions & naive & dangerous recommendations. Let’s consider. A 🧵 1/
🇷🇺 was “forced to dramatically scale back the stated goals of the invasion.” What?? No it didn’t. Putin still wants to destroy Ukrainians state sovereignty & nationhood. Zero evidence behind their statement. 2/
Sep 25, 2022 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Arguments that it's unreasonable to expect russians to protest cuz putin's regime is so brutal & how parallels with Maidan protests in 🇺🇦don't work cuz Yanukovych was not nearly as bad/brutal r only partly valid. Let's dig in a bit. A🧵
2/ Key difference was not lack of brutality of Yan regime but presence of institutional opposition (in legislature, local councils etc) in 🇺🇦. While it was important & ultimately enabled institutionalized transition post-Yan 2new govt, success of Maidan was due 2 people not elite
Sep 18, 2022 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
Hi new followers! Since u followed me after #APSA2022 where @kath_stoner, @darelasn, Olena Nikolayenko & I disputed Mearsheimer’s claim that NATO expansion made Putin 2 attack 🇺🇦, I put together🧵summarizing my comments. Thx @PopovaProf & @dandrezner 4 live-tweeting panel! 1/21
My broader argument was that accurate analysis of the war needs to take seriously 2 things not taken seriously by great power politics realist analysis: 1) dynamics of domestic politics in 🇷🇺 & 🇺🇦, especially identity politics, and b) Ukrainian agency. 2/21
Aug 12, 2022 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Current debate over #visabanforrussians - whether it unduly victimizes "good 🇷🇺" & unjustly imposes collective responsibility, or whether it is warranted cuz russians do in fact bear collective responsibility for their govt action - echos a similar debate from early 1990s. A 🧵1/
In late 1980s-early 1990s in the Baltic states push for indepdence from USSR was supported by some "good" russians (who supported Baltic popular fronts) and opposed by other russians (who supported pro-USSR "Interfronts"). 2/
Aug 11, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If 🇺🇦 consults with 🇺🇸/NATO on use of long-range weapons, hit on Crimean air base has another implication: the west is not buying 🇷🇺 bs that Crimea is 🇷🇺 proper. It's not. It's illegally annexed territory, "referendum" & formalization of annexation notwithstanding. And so...1/
🇷🇺 bluff, gaslighting & threats 2 go nuclear r exposed 4 what they r - bs, or, in Russian, понты. 4🇷🇺 it's a smart move 2 annex territory (hence "referendum" plans 4 Kherson & Zaporizhzhia) & then claim that nuclear umbrella will extend 2 these territories cuz they're now🇷🇺 2/
Aug 10, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
When applying for tourist visa there’s presumption of intent to immigrate & applicant needs to prove they don’t have this intent. There can be (quite reasonable) presumption that 🇷🇺 visa applicants are pro-war/Putin & requirent to rebut this presumption to get EU visa. Then 1/
Those Russians in the EU who display war symbols & harass 🇺🇦 refugees should be promptly deported for violating visa issuing conditions. This is not discrimination for “political opinion” but protection from re-victimization of already victimized 🇺🇦 refugees. 2/
May 7, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
This utterly bizzare Victory Day performance from Russia reminded me of something we had in high school in late Sovier era - agitbrigada (agitation, or propaganda brigade). A short 🧵
Agitbrigade's purpose was to put on a musical theater performance in school auditorium for - yes, you guessed it - Victory day. Must have been 1985 (40 yrs anniversary). Spots in agitbrigada were highly thought. But not due to high degree of patriotism. 2/
Mar 4, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
How do I say it clearly. Putin already believes the west is out to get him and always was. This was the thrust of his crazy pre-invasion speech. Many ppl in 🇷🇺 believe this too - that they are not fighting war against 🇺🇦 but war to defend Russia. Crazy but true. 1/2/ so what Lindsay Graham said, “undiplomatic” as it is, doesn’t change much. Putin said - read his speech - that even western advisors on anticorruption reforms were proof that US is masterminding against 🇷🇺 and it was just a matter of time before it struck 🇷🇺 by way of 🇺🇦
