Author Archives: AK

About AK

Anatoly Karlin (see profile) is the owner and main editor of this site. He also runs the Arctic Progress blog on trade, energy & security in a thawing world.

Whiskey Trickles Into Russia’s Drinking Culture

Posted on February 6, 2012 by AK

Russia has a long and proud drinking culture; according to the chronicle of its founding, the main reason it chose Christianity over Islam was the latter’s prohibition of booze. Vodka has been distilled there since at least the 12th century. … Continue reading →

Posted in Da Russophile | Tagged , , , , | 37 Comments

Far More People Protested FOR Putin Than Against, But You Wouldn’t Know It From The Western Media

Posted on February 5, 2012 by AK

The above photo, part of a photo report by Ridus, shows the Anti-Orange protest at Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow on February 4th. Does that look like 35,000 people to you, let alone 20,000 or 15,000?Because those were the most commonly cited figures … Continue reading →

Posted in Da Russophile | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 61 Comments

Why China Is Far Superior To India

Posted on February 4, 2012 by AK

It is not a secret to longtime readers of this blog that I rate India’s prospects far more pessimistically than I do China’s. My main reason is I do not share the delusion that democracy is a panacea and that whatever advantage … Continue reading →

Posted in Sublime Oblivion, The Sino Triumphalist | Tagged , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

Unofficial Early Voting For The Russian President

Posted on February 2, 2012 by AK
Posted in Da Russophile | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Are Russians As Rich As Czechs?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by AK

In terms of new cars, they now are. According to 2011 statistics, Russians bought 17.6 new automobiles per 1000 people. This indicator is still quite a bit below most of Western Europe, such as Germany’s 38.5, France’s 33.4, Britain’s 31.9, … Continue reading →

Posted in Da Russophile | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

Introducing the Journalism Security Index (JSI)

Posted on January 30, 2012 by AK

The Press Freedom Index issues by Reporters Without Borders is a good starting point for assessing journalistic freedoms in global comparative perspective. However, much like all attempts to measure democracy or Transparency International’s assessment of corruption perception, their methodology relies on tallying … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Karlin Freedom Index 2012

Posted on January 24, 2012 by AK

This is the Karlin Freedom Index for 2012, a political classification system I formulated more than a year ago in response to systemic bias on the part of traditional “freedom indices” such as Freedom House and The Economist Democracy Index … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Is The US Still A Liberal Democracy?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by AK

In the years since 9/11, the US has built a mosaic of national security powers that undermine its claim to be the “land of the free.” According to this useful summary by Jonathan Turley, these include: Assassination of its own … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Translation: Sergey Lukyanenko – I Will Vote For Putin

Posted on January 23, 2012 by AK

Courtesy of Evgeny‘s comment at Mark Adomanis’ blog, I found a very interesting piece by Sergey Lukyanenko – the bestselling Russian sci-fi writer best known for his Night Watch series, which was later converted into Russia’s first blockbuster film in … Continue reading →

Posted in Da Russophile, Translations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

New Year Special: 2012 Predictions

Posted on January 3, 2012 by AK

It’s been a great year! To recap, in rough chronological order, 2011 saw: The most popular post (with 562 comments and counting; granted, most of them consisting of Indians and Pakistanis flaming each other); Visualizing the Kremlin Clans (joint project … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile, Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 215 Comments