How Pepsi Won the Cola Wars in Russia

Pepsi’s love affair with Russia dates way back to the early days of the cold war. It all started with Nikita Khrushchev taking a harmless sip of the drink at an American trade exhibition in Moscow in 1959. Donald M. Kendall, himself Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo recalls …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Friday October 28, 2011

Putin: Is He Bald Enough?

It seems that Russia's hairy pattern of power is set to continue. Only few pundits doubt that Medvedev's recommendation for Vladimir Putin to be Russia's new president leaves space for any viable political alternatives in Russia's 2012 presidential election. If Putin moves back into the Kremlin, …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Saturday September 24, 2011

Back in (What Was) the USSR

The last time I was in Russia was 1982, communism was a fading but malignant power ... Leonid Brezhnev was near death, and KGB boss Yuri Andropov was about to take over (and would die within a year). At the time there was widespread, orchestrated paranoia over President Ronald Reagan’s supposed …

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Written by Peter Worthington on Friday September 9, 2011

Old Creatures Great and Small

Some 30 years ago, my family and I went to the Galapagos Islands, rented a cabin cruiser and (sort of) followed the path of Charles Darwin, who had visited the islands in the 1830s and came up with his theory on the origin of species. A fond memory is slogging deep into one of the islands …

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Written by Peter Worthington on Friday August 19, 2011

Russia's Ugly Spy Tactics

So much for the famed "reset." Eli Lake in The Washington Times reports Russia's campaign of intimidation against American officials,  including mysterious break-ins and concocted sex scandals: One example of such intimidation occurred in 2009 against a senior U.S. official in the …

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Written by Frum Forum Editors on Friday August 5, 2011

Not All of Today's News is Bad!

Ukraine to save bears from forced vodka drinking. Of course it's also possible that the bears only said they were forced, after they were caught.

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Written by David Frum on Wednesday August 3, 2011

Putin's Lipstick Army

After a Euro techno ode and a lingerie student calendar , female glorification of Vladimir Putin has taken on a new dimension prior to the upcoming 2012 presidential elections. In the viral Youtube video “Diana” an attractive blonde roams the streets of Moscow whilst the camera hovers back …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Wednesday July 20, 2011

Russia's Internet Challenge

The successful debut of Yandex, "Russia's Google", on NASDAQ heralds the country's growing IT industry. But can Russian tech compete on a global scale? Yandex, deemed by some to be the “Russian Google”, recently raised some eyebrows when its chief technology officer, Ilya Segalovich, claimed …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Tuesday May 31, 2011

Russia's Odd Couple

Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin seem to have clashing personalities, but their different traits have actually turned out to be a benefit to both. Vladimir Putin stressed his strong belief in national sovereignty last week when he lashed out against the respective governments intervening in …

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Written by Robin Tim Weis on Monday March 28, 2011

Obama Heads for Foreign Policy Disaster

Despite the domestic focus of these early months of his presidency, Barack Obama thinks of himself as a foreign policy thinker above all, according to those who know him best. His confidence is undiminished by his lack of experience and credentials, and that confidence continues to flourish despite …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009

The White House's Clumsy Timing

Sept. 17, 2009, is the day that the Obama administration yielded to Russian pressure and canceled the proposed missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Today also happens to be the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, when Russia gulped down its share of …

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Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009