International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Why Russia's Political Capitalists Went to War – and How the War Could End Their Rule

Małgorzata Kulbaczewska-Figat , Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2022-09-04T17:34:10Z

Russia's political capitalists waged war in order to survive as a class, to continue accumulating wealth through the exploitation of the state – says Volodymyr Ishchenko, a research associate at the Institute of East European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin. However, this war, depending on what happens on the battlefield, may equally bring about a fall or a radical transformation of the whole post-Soviet order. Interview by Małgorzata Kulbaczewska-Figat.
By the end of February, you (…)

- 2022 - Ukraine / Russia, Ukraine

Russia's War on Ukraine: Imperial Ideology or Class Interest?

Ilya Matveev, Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2022-07-04T14:51:20Z

Russian political scientist Ilya Matveev (Laboratory of Public Sociology) and Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko (Freie Universität Berlin) debate the causes and consequences of the war.

- 2022 - Ukraine / Russia, Ukraine

A Ukrainian Sociologist Explains Why Everything You Know About Ukraine Is Probably Wrong

Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2022-02-14T06:49:57Z

The Ukraine crisis is extremely complex and little understood. Sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko explains the crisis's origins, the fictions that surround it, and why war is still far from inevitable. Interview by Branko Marcetic

- IV565 - February 2022 / Russia, Ukraine

Ukrainians Are Far From Unified on NATO. Let Them Decide for Themselves

Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2022-01-06T08:56:32Z

“A different, pluralistic Ukraine developing in a more synthetic and dialogical way as a sovereign bridge between Europe and Russia is certainly possible. […] Whether it is really needed by anyone except Ukrainians is a different question.”

- IV564 - January 2022 / Russia, Ukraine, NATO

Maidan, the Right-Wing and Violence in Protest Events Analysis

Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2015-04-27T08:44:00Z

How significant was the participation of the far right in Maidan? Unfortunately, this question quickly falls victim to extreme politicization due to two phenomena: first, active propaganda aimed at discrediting Maidan by its opponents, including the Russian media, and second, by whitewashing attempts by Maidan's (left-)liberal or moderate nationalist supporters. Despite the hot polemics there are very few attempts to systematically assess the participation of the far right in Maidan. Typically arguments are supported with survey results conducted among participants of the Maidan showing that only a tiny minority of the protesters were members of any political party (3.9% in December 2013, and 7.7% in January 2014), or with data from electoral polls and presidential and parliamentary election results showing little electoral support for Svoboda, the Right Sector party or their leaders.

- 2022 - Ukraine / Ukraine, Ukraine debate

On the Possible Banning of the Communist Party of Ukraine and Its Meaning for Democracy and the Left

Volodymyr Ishchenko — 2015-04-23T13:50:30Z

On July 24 the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Oleksandr Turchynov announced the disbanding of the parliamentary group of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) over a ridiculous technicality. The court trial over CPU's ban as a political party started the same day withsimonenko the next session of the court scheduled for mid-August. The CPU is accused of supporting â€˜terrorism' and the separatism of Eastern Ukrainian pro-Russian rebels. While Ukrainian and international left should not have any illusions about the CPU just because of the “communist” word in its name, nevertheless, we should worry and actively oppose its ban pushed forward in the context of a major anti-democratic assault after the president Yanukovych has been toppled down.

- 2022 - Ukraine / Ukraine, Ukraine debate