Colleagues – Russian diplomats, government officials, academics in the humanities, journalists!

Though I began my career back in the times of deep Brezhnevite stagnation, and have been engaged in one way or another with government policy since 1977, I cannot but be amazed at certain aspects of the professional work of some of you today. My perplexity is deepened by the fact that I was born and grew up in the family of a highly-placed Soviet official. In other words, in some sense I never lived outside politics. Possibly, you will be able to help me clarify further my current perspective on a number of matters with which I am very familiar. [Read more]