Articles

Many countries use international TV channels as an instrument of soft power. So why is RT not simply a Russian CNN? On the rise and fall of the self-styled scourge of The West.

White supremacist rhetoric can quickly lead to violent acts. At their most extreme, theories about the decline of white dominance, the emasculation of western society, elite betrayal and a calculated ‘great replacement’ incite a perceived right to kill. Defining the psychology behind far-right mass murderers highlights a terrifying mix of fear and racism.

Millions of people are consuming, repeating and disseminating far-right ‘culture war’ material online, but if you do not seek out that content and are not served it by algorithms, you may never know it was there.

The planet, as authoritarian capitalism’s plaything, is subject to real-world economic-ecological downward spirals. And yet exorbitant space exploration projects continue to build escapist dreams on extractivism. And the threat of nuclear war continues to push at the limits of tenuous environmental stability.

Vienna’s hosting of Ukrainian artists and writers recalls the days of the fin de siècle, when the city was a magnet for intellectuals seeking freedom from Tsarism. But despite strong historical affinities, subtle barriers to solidarity with the Ukrainian exiles remain.

It’s 100 years since Mussolini took political control of Italy. Given a period of violent tensions across large parts of Europe after the First World War, what specifically lay behind the rise of fascist totalitarianism? And how does the Duce’s leadership compare to that of other contemporary authoritarianism?

In times of war, art is a source of testimony and helps deal with trauma. Tragic events that are too close in time and space, however, can hinder inspiration and raise moral questions on artistic manipulation.

Economics tends to alienate women, who are largely excluded from its systematized theories; study environments for the subject are still male dominated. It’s high time for the work of once influential female economists, hidden from view for centuries, to make a comeback.

September’s Czech Republic First! demonstrations combined legitimate concerns about the cost of living with pro-Kremlin propaganda. But the Czech PM’s wholesale dismissal of the protesters as Putin’s stooges could not conceal a genuine policy failure.

Ukrainian arts shed light on a country that for decades has been ignored, repressed and treated as part of Russia. Culture in Ukraine must continue to be practiced and discussed, not despite war but because of it, write the editors of ‘Osteuropa’.

The arts are a source from which Ukrainian society draws its sovereign will. A compendious new issue of ‘Osteuropa’ explores that proposal in depth.

In her latest work ‘Le jeune homme’, the Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux tells of an affair she conducted while writing ‘L’Événement’, the story of her illegal abortion thirty years before. With its exploration of inter-generational love and layering of memory, the narrative becomes a meditation on time itself.

Culture alone can’t provide a quick solution to Russia’s current social and intellectual predicament. Russians need urgently to learn the art of self-analysis before they can move forward.

Infrastructure in eastern Ukraine has been decimated; business and manufacturing displaced; cultural artifacts destroyed; communities disrupted and families bereaved. In light of all this, the discussion about what Ukraine stands to gain from the war borders on cynicism.

Missile strikes on Ukrainian cities are targeting civilians. Such punishing retaliation for the loss of Moscow’s vital bridge to Crimea further betrays Putin’s brutal tactics. In times of escalating war crimes, centuries old questions about peace and freedom are ever more urgent. What would be a rational horizon for collective hope over time?

Russian anti-war feminists are challenging Putin’s regime by specifically appealing to women over 45. This underrepresented group, they believe, are victims of propaganda. In quickly motivating a non-radical newspaper campaign, which shifts debate from the ideological battlefield to the personal, activists have begun changing opinion about loyalty, revealing harsh realities.