Browse Items (158 total)

In 1783, the Treaty of Georgievsk was signed, between the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, in Eastern Georgia, under King Irlaki II, and Russia, under Catherine II. The relationship was initiated by King Irlaki II. The major elements that came out of the…

On April 9, 1991, a national referendum established Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union. The news came to the Georgian people on a day meant to remember the April 9, 1989 “Tbilisi Massacre.” It was reported in the Los Angeles Times that…

Stalin was born in Gori, now a city in present-day Georgia, and spent his childhood there before traveling to Tbilisi to attend school on a scholarship. He was, however, expelled from the Georgian Orthodox Tiflis Spiritual Seminary after poor…

South Ossetia is an autonomous republic in Georgia that declared independence in 2008. Only a few countries – in particular, Russia, which maintains a military presence in South Ossetia – recognize its independence.

Heavy fighting broke out…

This is one of your author’s favorite Russia memes, because of the amount of meaning embedded into the image. The text implies that while Americans fight over their gun rights (“right to bear arms”), Russians are living in a parallel universe where…

The T-34 is widely regarded as the most influential tank of WWII, credited (along with the Russian winter) with turning the tide against the Nazi’s in the east. The T-34 was both a technological and industrial marvel, coupling advanced engineering…

This is an image of various Russian bond certificates over time. After purchasing a bond, an investor would receive a certificate like this. The image includes bond certificates issued by the Imperial government, the Soviet government, and by the…

This is a chart of the ruble denominated debt in Russia. It includes sovereign, municipal, and corporate debt. The scale on the right is billions of USD. The large run up in 1998 is of sovereign debt, which goes back to almost zero when the Russian's…

This chart shows the yield of the 10 year ruble denominated bond. The yield on this bond spiked during periods of uncertainty such as 1998 and 2008 and declined in periods of optimism. The yield was particularly low between 2003-2008.

This is a graph of the nominal ruble exchange rate over time. The ruble starts at the strongest level and depreciates over time. When the ruble was first allowed to float in 1998, it depreciated by 75% before stabilizing. The ruble depreciated again…

This chart shows the yields (on an annually adjusted basis) of Russian short-term, ruble-denominated bonds, called GKO's. During the mid-90s, foreign investors poured money into GKO's driving yields down from over 100% in 1995 to as low as 17.2% in…

With an economic value that far outweighs its relatively small physical characteristics and unassuming appearance, caviar is an item whose collection, consumption, and commodification has given it one of great historical, cultural, and geopolitical…

A fascinating illustration, the clearly photoshopped image here depicts the iconic “IKEA” logo in the Cyrillic alphabet (as it is used in Russia) supporting the spires and domes of the famous Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. It is important to note…