Russian Colonialism

Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr is in Ukraine, despite President Biden’s warning that Americans should leave. He’s reporting on the ground, but also spending time with loved ones and friends. Like everyone else in the country he’s keeping an eye on the Russian troops at the border but trying not to let the situation get to him.

With so much focus on what Russia is doing in Eastern Ukraine, it’s easy to forget why they’re doing it. Today on Black Diplomats we have two keen observers of the Russian model of colonialism - journalist Maksym Eristavi and historian Alexander Etkind.

They cover the history of Ukrainian/Russian relations going back to Catherine the Great, compare the American “frontier” with Russias takeover of Siberia, and talk about Putin’s sense of a Slavic peoples that is distinct from other Europeans.

Thank you for listening!

Maksym Eristavi

I started as a Ukrainian reporter when I was just 16. I went from covering both Ukrainian pro-democratic revolutions, being the country’s youngest news anchor and newsroom manager to founding international operations at the leading news startup covering Eastern Europe, and becoming a contributor to leading global outlets, such as RFERL, BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Reuters, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Politico and the Washington Post. At the same time, Bild and The New York Times called my tweets an essential source on the region. I led pioneering English-language coverage of the Russian disinformation warfare and human rights violations in Eastern Europe. 

I pioneered queer representation in Eastern European media and remain one of the few openly queer journalists in the region. I have been an outspoken voice in raising civil rights issues of the region abroad.

Alexander Etkind

Alexander Etkind (born 1955, St. Petersburg, Russia) is a historian and cultural scientist. He is a professor of history and the Chair of Russia-Europe relations at the European University Institute. He is fellow of the European Institute for International Law and International Relations.

He completed his B.A. and M.A. in 1978 in Psychology and English at Leningrad State University. In 1998, he defended PhD (Habilitation) in Slavonic Studies/ Cultural History at the University of Helsinki. Etkind taught at the European University at St. Petersburg then at Cambridge University where he was also a fellow of King's College. He was a visiting fellow at New York University,  Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin, and other places.

Etkind's research focuses on European and Russian intellectual history, memory studies, natural resources and the history of political economy, empire and colonies in Europe, and Russian politics, novels and film in the 21st century.

Etkind has publications in Russian and English, and speaks both languages