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Articles by Michael Bohm

opinion Michael Bohm

How Russia's Journalists Serve the Fatherland

In the West, journalists are given awards for fighting the government. In Russia, they are awarded for serving it.
opinion Michael Bohm

Top 5 Myths About U.S. Meddling in Ukraine

The Kremlin blames the U.S. for Ukrainians' embrace of Western values and institutions. But this is an attempt to shift the argument away from the...
opinion Michael Bohm

6 More Russian Myths About Crimea

The U.S. annexed Hawaii and Texas, so why can't Russia annex Crimea? Russia is living in the 19th century, pursuing its own manifest destiny.
opinion Michael Bohm

4 Reasons Why Putin's Crimea Grab Will Backfire (Video)

Amid the "great Crimean conquest," Russians view Putin as a hero who rectified a historical injustice, stood up to the West and saved Russians from...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Own Historical Injustice

Once agreements that have established the territorial integrity of countries are revoked in the name of “rectifying a historical injustice,” as Russia...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Imperial Ambitions

Putin, who always admired the conquests of Peter and Catherine the Great — and even George W. Bush – has finally received the golden opportunity...
opinion Michael Bohm

Top 5 Myths About Russia's Invasion of Crimea

It is well-known that the first victim of nearly every military conflict is the truth. But Russia seems to have broken all records in this category...
opinion Michael Bohm

Farewell, Ambassador McFaul

McFaul used his charm and "Twitter diplomacy" to win over tens of thousands of Russians. This led the Kremlin to carry out a smear and harassment...
opinion Michael Bohm

Arab Spring in Russia's Backyard

In any autocracy, at some point, when things get bad enough, the people will say "Enough!" and start fighting for their basic rights and dignity...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Russia Is No. 1 in Anti-Americanism

According to state-controlled television programs, the CIA supports Russian fascists and terrorists from the North Caucasus, and U.S. military cargo planes...
opinion Michael Bohm

How Homophobia Can Boost Your Career

If actor Ivan Okhlobystin had made his homophobic comments in the U.S., his career would be over. But in Russia, his career got a nice boost from it...
opinion Michael Bohm

The 5 Biggest Events That Shaped Putin's 2013

Looking back at the main events that shaped Russia over the past 12 months, it becomes clear that 2013 will go down in history as President Vladimir...
opinion Michael Bohm

Ukraine Is Putin's Favorite Vassal

Soviet leaders used brute force to keep Ukraine as a subservient vassal state. But Putin must use a more subtle method of carrots and sticks to achieve...
opinion Michael Bohm

Yanukovych the Swindler

Yanukovych has been linked to electoral, academic and financial swindling. He also swindled Ukrainians by reneging on his promise to take the country...
opinion Michael Bohm

My Clash With Homophobes on Russian TV

After I said that the Kremlin's understanding of homosexuality is "primitive," the audience became enraged, screaming at me and demanding an apology...
opinion Michael Bohm

How the U.S. Defames Russian Pop Stars

After singer Grigory Leps was put on a U.S. government black list for his alleged role in a top organized crime syndicate, many Russians cried "Russophobia...
opinion Michael Bohm

Stop the Absurd Witch Hunt Against Halloween

Russian lawmakers believe Halloween is "extremist," causes psychological harm and is an evil U.S. plot to morally corrupt Russians.
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Shearing Wool From the Snowden Pig

Russia is enjoying a nice windfall from Snowden's cyber-vigilantism and the resulting crisis in U.S.-European relations. The Kremlin still believes...
opinion Michael Bohm

A Nobel Prize Tailor-Made for Putin

Putin deserves a global con-artist award for having tricked so many into believing he is a peacemaker with his Syria plan.
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Revives Russian Exceptionalism

Putin's brand of Russian exceptionalism is defined by his anti-Americanism and his single-handed mission to restore Russia's imperial greatness.
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Spectacular Syrian Smoke Screen

Putin has managed to shift the world's attention away from Assad's war crimes. Now it is focused exclusively on Russia's "peaceful" plan to destroy...
opinion Michael Bohm

Obama Falls Right Into Putin's Trap

Putin is a master of political intrigue and provocation. By obstructing the U.S. in the Security Council, Putin makes two big propaganda scores: He automatically...
opinion Michael Bohm

The Roots of Russia's Homophobia

The new anti-gay law punishes those who "propagandize" LGBT lifestyles. But the real propagandizers are the Orthodox church and state, which are pushing...
opinion Michael Bohm

Spying Is a Sovereign Right

Russia's fervent objections to the NSA's foreign espionage activities show a clear double standard — just like the old Russian quip that when U.S...
opinion Michael Bohm

Snowden Doomed to Dreadful Life in a Capsule

If Snowden felt bored, claustrophobic and depressed in the capsule hotel, he's got a lot more of that coming. Living on the FSB's strict terms as...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Is Glad That Obama Isn't Coming

While Obama has pivoted away from the reset with Russia, Putin has pivoted toward the Soviet Union, writes opinion page editor Michael Bohm.
opinion Michael Bohm

Carelessness as a Russian National Trait

Carelessness in the Russian workplace, some say, is as Russian as the long, cold winters. It has gotten so bad that Medvedev has classified it as a national...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Uses His Favorite Ax to Grind Navalny

First, the Kremlin launched a crude propaganda campaign against Navalny. Then, it cooked up a sham criminal case to eliminate him as a potential political...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Despises Snowden

Putin has a strong dislike for human rights activists as a class — and even more disdain for traitors, whom he recently called "swine."
opinion Michael Bohm

Snowden, Russia's Favorite U.S. Dissident

If Snowden receives asylum in Russia, he will face a serious moral dilemma: His will be living in a country with a far worse record than the U.S....
opinion Michael Bohm

Guriev's Exile Is a Huge Loss for Russia

Guriev's forced exile is a disturbing wake-up call for all Russians who want a modern, democratic society.
opinion Michael Bohm

Why We Should All Work Like Putin

Russian's poor work ethic has more to do with the country's distorted political and economic environment and less to do with a distorted "Russian...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Wants U.S. Bases in Afghanistan

Only when Putin senses a direct security threat from the Taliban is he able to refrain from his trademark anti-U.S. rhetoric.
opinion Michael Bohm

Kremlin Is Hiding Behind a Blacklist

The Kremlin is trying to deflect attention away from its apparent cover-up of the Magnitsky affair by shifting blame onto the U.S.
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Has More Free Speech Than All Media

A group of Russian lawmakers would like to fine media outlets up to $1.4 million if they "offend" politicians and bureaucrats. This is a cowardly attempt...

Q&A: Pozner Is the Venerable Visage of Russia in the West

For many Americans over 40, legendary television journalist Vladimir Pozner was the face of the Soviet Union.
opinion Michael Bohm

25 Similarities Between Chavez and Putin

Although all autocrats fit the same basic profile, the similarities between Vladimir Putin and Hugo Chavez are particularly striking.
opinion Michael Bohm

5 Myths About Max Shatto's Death

Pavel Astakhov hinted that the Texas prosecutor and other law enforcement officials, driven by "big politics"and Russophobia, had covered up the parents'...
opinion Michael Bohm

10 Russian Myths About U.S. Adoptions

The Kremlin says Russia's orphans are safer in Russian orphanages than in U.S. families. It also says U.S. judges and juries are anti-Russian when...
opinion Michael Bohm

Let Those Orthodox Jewish Books Go

The Kremlin says the Schneerson library is "part of Russia's cultural heritage and belongs to the Russian people." Yet this sounds odd, given the minuscule...
opinion Michael Bohm

Expect More Anti-Americanism in 2013

The Kremlin could crack down on U.S. journalists when they "defame" Russia. It could also ban U.S. university scholarships so Russia doesn't lose its...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Good News Is Bad News in Russia

It would be easy to dismiss Duma deputy Mikheyev's bill to limit to 30 percent the amount of "negative information" in Russia's media as a cheap PR stunt...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Fear of Appearing Spineless

Putin needs to strengthen his power vertical to remain in control, and a strong vertical power structure requires strong vertebrae.
opinion Michael Bohm

Russia's Misery Loves U.S. Company

Russia’s excitement in believing that the U.S. will soon collapse exposes a deeper problem in the national psyche.
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Russia Got It Wrong on U.S. Elections

When Russian officials tried to bash the U.S. electoral system, they showed that they are 200 years behind on U.S. history.
opinion Michael Bohm

Why the Foreign Ministry Should Keep Quiet

Those nostalgic about the Soviet Union got a nice treat when the Foreign Ministry released its report on U.S. human rights violations. The report tries...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Pride Has No Price Tag

Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has given hundreds of millions of dollars to assist Russia's most neglected citizens. The Kremlin announced it will  now...
opinion Michael Bohm

Lots of Barking in the Kremlin

Putin is continuing the campaign of demonizing the opposition, but he is fooling himself if he thinks the movement will go away.
opinion Michael Bohm

The Innocence of Censorship

Russian courts often define extremism subjectively and arbitrarily. As with pornography, they know it when they see it.
opinion Michael Bohm

Russia Is Turning Into Iran

The Duma introduced a bill that would carry a three-year prison sentence for "insulting the religious feelings of others.” This would take Russia another...
opinion Michael Bohm

Islamic Fundamentalists in the Kremlin

Anti-Americanism in Russia and the Muslim world shares the same roots: envy of the West and a frustration with their own decline. Both the Kremlin...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why the Pussy Riot Judge Hid Her Face

The majority of Russians oppose this type of medieval, religious-based jurisprudence, which is more characteristic of the Taliban than Europe’s largest...
opinion Michael Bohm

The Laughingstock of the World

Putin's clumsy and crude attempt to discredit Pussy Riot ended up only discrediting the Kremlin and its loyalist court. The trial was so full of absurdities...
opinion Michael Bohm

Patriots Are Destroying Russia

Russians need to see the true faces of these "patriots" — public officials who hold their assets outside the country while crying the loudest against...
opinion Michael Bohm

Curing Russia's Xenophobia

Amid the Kremlin's propaganda against foreign-funded NGOs, a crucial principle is lost on many Russians: By helping victims of human rights abuses...
opinion Michael Bohm

United Russia's Spy Mania

Many hoped the battle against "foreign agents" would end after the Duma approved the bill on NGOs last week and adjourned for its summer recess....
opinion Michael Bohm

Looking for Foreign Agents in All the Wrong Places

Many in the Kremlin and United Russia believe that U.S.-funded NGOs are part of a plot to destabilize Russia and overthrow the Putin regime. Perhaps only...
opinion Michael Bohm

Kremlin's Omerta Blocks Justice for Magnitsky

The real reason the Kremlin opposes the Magnitsky bill is that it has no interest in fighting corruption against its own major crime syndicates. The problem...
opinion Michael Bohm

Russia Can Benefit From Political Correctness

In the politically correct United States, Russians tell me, there is no freedom of speech, while in politically incorrect Russia you can say whatever...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Has a Responsibility to Protect Syrians

Russia needs to join the post-World War II era by rejecting its primitive, cynical notion of "sovereign democracy" — not only within its borders but...
opinion Michael Bohm

Russia's New Propaganda Minister

After Monday's announcement that historian Vladimir Medinsky was appointed the culture minister, critics quickly labeled him the new propaganda minister...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Skipped Out of the G8

If Putin was seen as getting too close to Obama at Camp David, it would have been a blow to his tough-guy image as someone who stands up to the United...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Pseudo-Patriotism

The true patriotism of Russians has been cheapened and disfigured by the Kremlin and its loyal court journalists and political analysts. They have tried...
opinion Michael Bohm

Obama's Useless Bout Trophy

For the Bush administration, Bout was the personification of evil, but there were no direct legal grounds to extradite and try him in the U.S. That is...
opinion Michael Bohm

Giving Russia the Bout

It looks like the Kremlin will not let go of the Bout affair and will try to make the issue a priority in U.S.-Russian relations. But Obama is unlikely...
opinion Michael Bohm

A Friendlier Reset

Thank goodness Russia's presidential campaign and election are over. The past six months were a rough ride for U.S.-Russian relations. But now with the...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Pyrrhic Victory

In reality, Putin did not win in last Sunday's vote. Winners in honest, open presidential elections don't send thousands of OMON riot police and Interior...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Under Siege

The closer we get to this weekend's presidential election, the worse Putin's siege mentality has become. Putin's erratic outburst at Luzhniki shows...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Chasing Imaginary American Ghosts

Here we go again — another round of anti-Americanism from the Kremlin and state-controlled media. Blaming outside forces for Russia's woes has a long...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Is So Scared of Debates

Putin has always been the ultimate "Teflon president" — but certainly not in the Ronald Reagan sense of the word. Putin's brand of Teflon is clearly...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Putin Will Never, Ever Give Up Power

If Putin gave up power at any age, he and dozens of his friends and colleagues who have become millionaires and billionaires over the past 10 years...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Halcyon Days Are Over

In the good old days, Putin got away with the idea that "the tsar is good, the boyars are bad." Now, an increasing number of people believe that "the fish...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Berlusconi Moment

What lessons, if any, will Putin learn from the Berlusconi era and its demise? Putin’s “Berlusconi moment” could very well come at his 18-year mark...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Some Russians Need the West's Help

The Kremlin cannot hide behind the bankrupt argument that human rights abuses are "internal matters." Despite Putin's opposition to Western "interference...
opinion Michael Bohm

Leave Nationality Out of the Passport

Yeltsin understood that the line on Russian passports identifying a citizen's nationality or ethnic group was a crude, discriminatory leftover from the...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Moment of Truth


Putin revealed his dirty little secret during his speech at the United Russia convention. The most distasteful aspect was that Putin wasn't even bashful...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin Playing With Fire by Courting Rogozin

By reincarnating Dmitry Rogozin and fanning the flames of anti-Caucasus sentiment, Putin’s political move will only lead to an increase in violence against...
opinion Michael Bohm

Exxon, Don't Pop Open the Champagne Yet

Hardened Russia critics in U.S. Congress could try to use "economic security" as a pretext to kill the Exxon-Rosneft deal and undermine Obama's reset...
opinion Michael Bohm

Putin's Potemkin Democracy

Putin's stance on elective government is clear — the less, the better. Given St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko's unpopularity and fearing...
opinion Michael Bohm

Our Answer to Magnitsky

False patriotism and a simulated deep concern for “abused Russians” located abroad cut to the core of Russia's new bill to blacklist foreign officials...
opinion Michael Bohm

A Case of False Missile Defense Panic

Pseudocyesis, or false pregnancy, is the psychological syndrome when a woman is convinced she is pregnant after experiencing several similar symptoms...
opinion Michael Bohm

Why Russians Don't Smile

It is a primitive stereotype and myth that Russians are doomed to be gloomy and morose. The problem has little to do with Dostoevsky, the cold climate...
opinion Michael Bohm

Limiting Russia's Sovereign Democracy

According to Russia's doctrine of "sovereign democracy," the West shouldn't meddle in Russia's internal affairs. But the post-World War II paradigm...
opinion Michael Bohm

The Khodorkovsky Omen

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent a clear and chilling signal on Dec. 16 that the "soft autocracy" of his first decade in power will become more oppressive...
opinion Michael Bohm

5 Reasons Why Russia Will Never Join NATO

Membership would mean the end of Russia’s dream of restoring its former superpower status. Russia would become just another Germany, Britain or France...
opinion Michael Bohm

Thieves Should Go to Jail!

By filing charges against Luzhkov, Putin would set a high-profile example — something that is badly needed given that Medvedev’s two-year anti-corruption...
opinion Michael Bohm

Operation Luzhkov

The biggest winners in Luzhkov’s sacking are Putin and his vertical power structure. “Operation Luzhkov” will have the same chilling effect on politicians...
opinion Michael Bohm

Fake Diplomas = Fake Modernization

Russia has done little to reduce its high number of fake diplomas ― but at the same time it requires foreigners to prove that their degrees are valid...