Author Archives: kathaskew

I enjoyed reading the Voices from Chernobyl excerpt that you included; it was very moving. I also liked how you discussed how this event affected the Soviet Union’s diplomatic relations with other countries. Continue reading →

An insightful post. I’ve come across the terms perestroika and glastnost before, but I wasn’t sure what they involved and how they aided the end of the Soviet Union. This post help cleared that up. Continue reading →

Interesting post! I didn’t realize that other countries also had a prohibition period. I also didn’t know that Alcoholics Anonymous had ties to Russia. Continue reading →

There’s a lot of death involved in this project’s construction. I wonder how stumbling across the corpses of former workers affected moral.

I think this is one of those problems that are somewhat unique to Russia because it is such a large country. While I think it’s important to to connect the two ends of Russia and all the parts in between, it will never be cost-effective since most of Russia is just tundra. Continue reading →

I think this reveals why a command economy can never be effective. It’s slow to respond to change and humanity will probably never be able to accurately predict demand, and so, a black market emerges. Continue reading →

Really interesting post. I was also surprised by the amount of countries that boycotted the 1980 Olympics. I shouldn’t be suprised by now that even the Olympics was involved in the propaganda war between the US and the Soviet Union. Continue reading →

It does amaze me reading about all these feats that the Soviet Union managed to accomplish during the 60s. The Soviets managed to put the first man on the moon, engaged in a campaign to spread communism around the world, and now can boast that they had… Continue reading →

It does amaze me reading about all these feats that the Soviet Union managed to accomplish during the 60s. The Soviets managed to put the first man on the moon, engaged in a campaign to spread communism around the world, and now can boast that they had… Continue reading →

What strikes me as amazing is how how quick the government could respond. I did this topic in class, and I remember reading that while the massacre was going on, it was announced via radio that there was a ‘concert’ going on, in order to hide the fact that people were at that moment being gunned down.
Not only that, but I can’t imagine how the government made this event ‘disappear’ from the public just two days later. Continue reading →

I really enjoyed the pictures you incorporated into your post, and the irony behind important corn from the USA was enjoyable.
As I read more and more about Russia, I’m starting to get the feel that Russia’s primary problem throughout it’s history is that when it goes into a new direction, Russia just dives right in feet first and guns blazing. The 70-80% crop failures in some areas struck me as just startling high, and yet probably easily avoidable with some cautionary planning and research. Continue reading →