What Kind of European Future Do Romanians Want?

On the Eve of Elections, Voters and Candidates Alike Are Vague on the Issues

To be Romanian is to live as a denizen of your city or town, of Romania, and of Europe.

In 2024, almost 19 million of us will choose elected officials to represent us at all three of these levels: 33 new members of the European Parliament (MEPs), 3,000 new mayors across Romania, 588 new members of the Romanian Parliament, and 1 new president.

So why is there fatigue, rather than campaign excitement? And are the Romanian and European contests functioning in opposition to each other—distracting citizens from the important issues in both …

Seeking a Politics of Solidarity in Putin’s Russia

In a Country Where Nothing Changes, a 23-Year-Old Finds Hope Outside the Electoral System

In 2013, when I was 13, one of the oldest comedy TV programs in Russia released a sketch in which a group of musicians performed a version of Queen’s “I …

On the Campaign Trail With a Russian Antiwar Candidate

Thousands of People Came Out to Support Boris Nadezhdin’s Presidential Run. They Refuse to Lose Hope

In December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. It had long been clear that he had plans to aim for his fifth …

What We Lose When We ‘Cancel’ Russian | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What We Lose When We ‘Cancel’ Russian

After the Ukraine Invasion, Enrollment in the Language Hit Historic Lows. But Turning Away Isolates the Entire Post-Soviet World

Feeling decisive one morning during my sophomore year of college, I picked my major: Russian. I had been studying the language and was excited for the opportunity to read literature, …

How Literature Became a Weapon in Russia’s Culture Wars | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Literature Became a Weapon in Russia’s Culture Wars

It’s a Battle of Tolstoys as Protestors Face off Against Putin’s Propaganda Machine

On April 10, 2022, Moscow police arrested resident Konstantin Goldman for brandishing a book in public. Goldman had posted an image on social media in which he posed holding a …

Ukraine in My Blood and on My Mind

A Foreign Correspondent’s Family Served Russian Imperialism, and Then Was Destroyed By It

This is the second of two essays exploring the intertwined histories of Russia and Ukraine, told through one family’s history. Read the first essay …