Sofi Oksanen: What It’s Like to Write about Russia
byIn 2003 I published my first novel in Finland, Stalin’s Cows, which dealt with the recent history of Estonia. I was confronted by journalists…
Viewpoint
Viewpoint is the UpNorth commentary and opinion section.
Putin: A 21st Century Hitler?
byThe similarities between Hitler’s Germany and Putin’s Russia are striking – and thoroughly disturbing. Will an increasingly stressed Putin push his country towards war,…
Trains, Bailouts, Russia and Canada’s “Responsible Conviction”
byCanada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephane Dion, this week, rejected an all-party Canadian effort to adopt legislation to target Russian human rights violators with…
Moscow May Soon Blame Extraterrestrials for Boeing Catastrophe, Russian Aviation Expert Says
byIt would be entirely consistent with the Russian approach since the shooting down of the Boeing airliner over the Donbas for Moscow soon to…
Arguing with Women
byA lonely dispatch from Estonia’s only feminist. I never had a sister. I’m told this is why I don’t understand women. A business group…
The Estonian Defence Model: “Shoot to kill, on the spot!”
byKaliningrad, autumn of 2006. I had just finished up a term as a visiting professor at the old Königsberg, Immanuel Kant University. The last…
Moving Backward: Russia’s Moral Decay
byThe Public Opinion Foundation conducted a survey this month asking Russians two questions: “What was the main event of the year in Russia?” and “What was the…
The Men In The Castle: When the Political Gets Personal
by“I promise to uphold human dignity and actively oppose efforts to diminish people, threaten them or humiliate them, whether such attempts stem from the…
Don’t hate the state (but watch out for the end game)
byNAG may be the worst idea on the planet, but the Estonian state’s purchase of three Bombardier aircraft leases wasn’t. Vello Vikerkaar keeps one…
Riding the NAG
byIn English, a nag is an old horse in poor health, and I can’t help but chuckle every time I read that NAG is…