Andrei Piontkovsky

Andrei Piontkovsky is a Russian scientist, political writer and analyst. He is a member of PEN International and a regular political commentator for the BBC World Service and Radio Liberty, on which has been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Dr. Piontkovsky is also the author of several books on the Putin presidency, including Another Look Into Putin’s Soul and Russian Identity. He holds a doctorate in mathematics from Moscow State University and is a member of the American Mathematical Society.

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    Articles by Andrei Piontkovsky

    Life After Decline

    On August 1, 1991, following a cordial meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, US President George H. W. Bush arrived in Kyiv to deliver what later became known as the

    THE QUESTION NO ONE ASKED AT BESLAN

    There are some questions that some nations avoid asking themselves just because they subconsciously know the answers. For a clearly articulated answer could become destructive for the state and therefore

    KONTROLNYI VYSTREL – COUP DE GRACE!*

    The assassination of Aslan Maskhadov was received in Moscow with an outburst of triumph and relief: "Well, now no one in Russia or the West will pester us with pleas

    Chechnya And “metaphysical Terrorism”

    After the latest terrorist attack in Moscow, we again are hearing proposals to bring back the death penalty, calls to "torch them with a red hot iron" and to "go

    RUSSIA HAS LOST THE WAR IN CHECHNYA

    By Andrei Piontkovsky Russia has yet again lost a war in Chechnya--just as it did in the nineteenth century, and in 1944 and 1996. If this really is a war

    WHAT WAS WRONG: ASIAN FLU OR RUSSIAN PNEUMONIA?

    By Andrei Piontkovsky [This paper was presented at a conference--"Russia: What Went Wrong? Which Way Now?"--held by the Jamestown Foundation on June 9-10 in Washington, DC. More information about the

    THE BALKAN SHADOW OVER RUSSIA

    By Andrei Piontkovsky Let us start with a short test for advanced readers. To which politician can the following text be ascribed? "If any nation is held by force within

    THE RUSSIAN IDEA OF RUSSIA’S “ELITE”

    By Andrei Piontkovsky It looks as though Russia's political class has finally found that eternally elusive unifying Russian idea: anti-Americanism. The United States has halted grant payments to three Russian

    WHO LOST BELARUS?

    By Andrei Piontkovsky In recent years every political spring in Russia has arrived hand in hand with euphoria over Russian-Belarusan reunification. Politicians of all shades make elegant speeches about brotherhood,

    THE QUESTION NO ONE ASKED AT BESLAN

    There are some questions that some nations avoid asking themselves just because they subconsciously know the answers. For a clearly articulated answer could become destructive for the state and therefore

    KONTROLNYI VYSTREL – COUP DE GRACE!*

    The assassination of Aslan Maskhadov was received in Moscow with an outburst of triumph and relief: "Well, now no one in Russia or the West will pester us with pleas

    RUSSIA HAS LOST THE WAR IN CHECHNYA

    By Andrei Piontkovsky Russia has yet again lost a war in Chechnya--just as it did in the nineteenth century, and in 1944 and 1996. If this really is a war

    Chechnya And “metaphysical Terrorism”

    After the latest terrorist attack in Moscow, we again are hearing proposals to bring back the death penalty, calls to "torch them with a red hot iron" and to "go