“Welcome to gladiator school,” I tell a freshly transferred inmate as smoke from a fire in the cell block fills the corridor and ten of my fellow guards trod by in heavily armored riot gear. We pick him up off the ground, and I note his terror and confusion. This place, buried behind endless layers of concrete […]
Reflections of a Former Federal Corrections Officer Read More »
Fall set in soon after I arrived, and the colors of St. Petersburg had begun to change. I decided to walk the two miles to the Summer Gardens, built by Peter the Great in 1704 and lined with Italian sculptures from the 17th and 18th century. I left the hostel and merged onto the sidewalks
The Dog of St. Petersburg Read More »
A few friends and I show up to a nondescript Russian store in Colorado Springs. It sits on the corner of a busy intersection surrounded by food chains and major corporations. Waiting in anticipation for the store to open, we organize our reading material and discuss our plan for the day. Between the three of
American Hospitality, Russian Style Read More »
The Future? How do you defeat an enemy who looks into the barrel of your gun and sees his paradise? –Anonymous The Chechnya situation encompasses a centuries-old compilation of vastly intertwined conflicts, further perpetuated by extreme biased and outdated grudges. Conflicts steeped in a clash of ideals so old and compounding that realistically, finding an
Troubleshooting Chechnya, Chapter V Read More »
A Feasibility Study I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest. -Winston Churchill Every proposed solution to the Chechnya situation encompasses its own degree of varying feasibility and complications, particularly in
Troubleshooting Chechnya, Chapter IV Read More »
Tucked behind the circa 1764 Smolny Cathedral sits the Political Science department of the St. Petersburg State University. The vast convent, considered to be one of the architectural masterpieces of the famed Italian Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, is situated on the shore of the Neva River, just before it swoops westward and dissipates into the Gulf
St. Petersburg State University’s Courageous Voices Read More »