History
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Война с Россией — основа современной украинской идентичности
English version here В Киеве, столице Украины, русский язык можно услышать практически повсюду, даже среди молодежи. Примерно каждый второй житель украинской столицы, по самым умеренным оценкам, в повседневной жизни говорит на русском, а не украинском языке. Хотя, есть, конечно, и растущая группа молодых украинцев, которые из-за длящегося конфликта между Россией и Украиной, упорно отказываются говорить… Continue reading
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The golden era of humanity
Today we live in times of great uncertainty. And still there is a sense, particularly among those living in the West, that we have never had it so good. Conditioning this optimistic sense is a firm belief that the liberal world, order irrespective of the odd setback, will eventually fulfill an eschatological promise of universal… Continue reading
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Life in Communist times: was it so much poorer than now?
I did not grow up in a Communist country: to me life behind the Iron Curtain was the stuff of fairy tales happening in some mysterious and dark places Continue reading
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Russia is not Russia
Recently I found a story reported by Miquel Puertas, the brave Spanish independent blogger who has been living in Donetsk for more than three years now Continue reading
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Brzezinski and the history textbook
I have a little quirk: wherever I travel, I try to get a copy of a local history textbook. So the other day, I opened my copy of a Polish history Continue reading
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Nietzsche and the rise of Germany
Nietzsche was born in 1844, the son of a Lutheran pastor, in a provincial town in Thuringia. In 1866 Prussia united the whole of Northern Germany and in 1871 Continue reading
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Nationalism, freedom and populism
Русская версия здесь A few days ago, I proposed a little experiment to two young women, one from Poland and the other one from Belarus Continue reading
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Letter to Harvard Prof. Serhii Plokhy
Dear Prof. Plokhy, I am reading your latest book on the history of Ukraine. It is not the first book I read on the subject and it will probably not be the last one. I hold the institution of Harvard, where you happen to teach, in very high esteem Continue reading
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Трагедия 1932-1933 годов или геноцид украинского населения?
Одним из главных козырей в антисоветской и антироссийской пропаганде в Украине является тема «голодомора». Хотя от страшного голода 1932-1933 годов вызванного засухой и перегибами в коллективизации пострадала не только Украина Continue reading
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Кто живёт в Донбассе? Национальная идентичность жителей ДНР
Донбасс в силу исторических условий стал регионом межэтнического взаимодействия представителей многих этносов Continue reading
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In Belarus a Maidan is only waiting to happen
My worries about an inevitable Maidan in Belarus proved to be exaggerated and unfounded last year Continue reading
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Two years of war propaganda have made Ukraine and Russia enemies for generations to come
“The biggest problem of Ukraine”, told me a man travelling with me in a train from Kiev to Lviv, “is that we have a very bad neighbour”. It did not come as a surprise to me, as the man was from Lviv, the cultural capital of the Ukrainian national awakening that started in the second… Continue reading
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Sometimes history is just another story
“Only times will tell”, the saying goes, and people always repeat that to truly understand the meaning of an event you need the perspective of history. This argument has a point, because having the opportunity to gather and consult a large amount of historical sources on a subject is a privilege that the people “experiencing history”… Continue reading
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Why Belarus is actually Lithuania, Ukraine is actually Russia and Russia is actually Mongolia
Some weeks ago the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, reviewed a legislation proposal to officially change Russia’s name. Contemporary Russia is not, in this view, the historically legitimate heir of the ancient Kievan Rus which is considered to be the first Russian and Eastern European state from where Ukraine, Russia and Belarus draw their historical origins. Continue reading
EAST AND WEST 