Five years ago, one of Khabarovsk’s main exports was its women, who went to work as prostitutes in Japan. Today, the Russian city is booming, thanks to its natural resources. But can this city, closer to Beijing than Moscow…
Which countries get their way in the world without having to resort to military might? Who are the soft power leaders who know the value of well-placed aid or a good pop star? Over the following pages we name the top 25…
During the conflict in South Ossetia, western media were given free access by the Georgian government, while on the Russian side, foreign journalists were being either arrested or herded around by the military. In both…
The Russia-Finland border was once the focus of Cold War hostility. Now the Finns and Russians are working together to stop people and drug traffickers opening up new smuggling routes. Monocle goes on patrol with the Fin…
No one – not even its only ally, Russia – recognises Abkhazia as a legitimate state. But 13 years after declaring independence from former Soviet Georgia, the region’s de facto government is determined to put it on the map…
The old Soviet Dom Radio building in St Petersburg is creating daring music and art – and refusing to follow the mood music at play in much of Russia today.
Twenty years ago, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was a busy place as the Iron Curtain was pulled back. Today, its signals are still focused on Russia as well as Iran and Afghanistan.
This isn’t how Vladimir Putin thought things would turn out. When his favoured candidate, Donald Trump, won last November’s US presidential election and then appointed Rex Tillerson – an oil executive who Putin had awarded…
Normalisation is the word of the moment in Ankara, as the Turkish government looks to mend fences with Israel, Russia and, albeit in vague terms, Syria. But talk of normalisation is also likely to linger at a cheese symp…