Menu Close

Articles on Soviet Union (USSR)

Displaying 81 - 100 of 259 articles

U.K. politician Winston Churchill with U.S. President Harry Truman on March 3, 1946, leaving for Missouri, where Churchill would make a speech warning about the dangers of the Iron Curtain. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Biden’s plain speaking on Ukraine inspires support without sparking a wider war – an echo of the Truman Doctrine, 75 years ago

The way two presidents used language to ask Americans to support intervening in a foreign conflict shows the power of a leader who uses plain speaking – and sets limits on intervention.
Russian traditional wooden matryoshka dolls showing Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on sale in a street souvenir shop in Moscow. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Putin’s war on history is another form of domestic repression

History always served as a weapon in the former Soviet Union, a way to control the narrative and deny the truth of the past. Vladimir Putin is now attempting to control this narrative through war.
The McDonald’s flagship restaurant at Pushkinskaya Square – the first one of the chain, opened in the USSR on Jan. 31, 1990 – in central Moscow on March 13, 2022, McDonald’s last day in Russia. AFP via Getty Images

The West thinks that Russians, suffering from sanctions, will end up abandoning Putin – but history indicates they won’t

Those placing their faith in sanctions to turn Russians against the war in Ukraine know little about the country, its history and people, write two scholars who have studied Russian culture.
Children march in a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, about 100 kilometres east of the Ukraine border, in May 2015. (AP Photo)

Curious Kids: Why did Putin invade Ukraine now? Is it for the U.S.S.R. again?

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants parts of Ukraine to be closer to Russia, and would like to prevent Ukraine from becoming part of NATO.
In this August 2012 photo, Russian soldiers ride atop an armoured vehicle through a street in Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia, with a destroyed tank in the foreground. The Russian military quickly routed the Georgian army during the war. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev)

Russia’s actions in post-Soviet wars provide clues to its brutal Ukraine invasion

In the midst of the Ukraine-Russia war, we should pay more attention to the evolution of Russia’s official rhetoric and military actions in former Soviet states.
African residents in Ukraine wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station on Feb. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Ukraine: How citizenship and race play out in refugees’ movements in Europe

Ukraine’s history with the former Soviet Union and its current relationship with the European Union inform how refugees move across borders. While race plays a role, citizenship is also an important factor.

Top contributors

More