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RUSSIA AND GERMANY IN TUG-OF-WAR OVER IMMANUEL KANT

This year, 300 years have elapsed since the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 in Königsberg, in what was then East Prussia.

By Ingmar Oldberg December 9, 2024

The case of Yurii Dmitriev and the case of Russian Karelia

This commentary aims to provide a context for the Dmitriev “affair” by presenting Karelia, its people, its history and its economic and political development. At the end of the text, some comparative conclusions for Russia in general are drawn. The commentary is primarily based on Russian press and official material, as well as on Finnish research.

By Ingmar Oldberg April 22, 2021

Kaliningrad’s problematic exclave status

The distinguishing feature of the Kaliningrad region is the fact that it is an exclave, part of but separated from Russia by two countries, Poland/Belarus or Lithuania/Latvia, though with access across the Baltic Sea (thus strictly speaking a semi-exclave). It is Russia’s only exclave and is the biggest in Europe. Seen from inside it is an enclave (or a semi-enclave).

By Ingmar Oldberg March 26, 2019

The avant-gardist Ivan Aksionov. A life marked by ruptures and paradoxes

Vid avantgardets korsvägar: Om Ivan Aksionov och den ryska modernismen [At the cross roads of the avant-garde: On Ivan Aksionov and Russian modernism, Lars Kleberg, Stockholm Natur & Kultur, 2015, 248 pages.

By Ingmar Oldberg March 8, 2018

Russia, Norway and the Arctic. Challenges to security policies

Geir Hønneland, Russia and the Arctic. Environment, Identity and Security political challenges. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2016, 205 pages; Tormod Heier og Anders Kjølberg (red.). Norge og Russland. Sikkerhets-politiske utfordringer i nordom-rådene. [Norway and Russia. Security Polices in the Northern Areas], Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2015, 208 pages.

By Ingmar Oldberg November 10, 2017

Baltic Russians under pressures. A minority with split identities

Kalle Kniivilä, Sovjets barnbarn: Ryssarna i Baltikum. [The grandchildren of the Soviet Union: The Russians in the Baltic states] Atlas 2016. 320 pages

By Ingmar Oldberg October 25, 2016

Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations in Russian discourse

Huntington’s theory is more relevant now than ever in Russian discourse. The background for this is the growing religious awareness among Muslims and the growth of Russian nationalism, which fills the void left after the collapse of communism; the strengthening of the Orthodox Church; and President Putin’s recent anti-West campaign.

By Ingmar Oldberg April 30, 2014

Revisiting Kaliningrad and Its Region

The city of Kaliningrad itself with its 450,000 inhabitants has acquired a European face. New buildings and shops have appeared all over the center, and the modern shopping malls are packed with both imported and Russian products, marked and sold with electronic bar codes.

By Ingmar Oldberg January 9, 2012

BOTH VICTIM AND PERPETRATOR Ukraine’s problematic relationship to the Holocaust

For various reasons, Ukraine’s relationship to the Holocaust and the Jews has been overshadowed by the similar, but more striking […]

By Ingmar Oldberg August 1, 2011