When you say politics, you conjure a whole bunch of associations: elections, campaigning, debates, fundraising. None of this exists in Russia! We are still fighting not for election victories but for having elections at all.

The West can't come up with anything to deal with Moscow, except appeasement.

If you're already in a fight, you want the first blow to be the last and you had better be the one to throw it.

I don't really like discussions about a supposed Russian national character.

Ratings are king and the money keeps flowing, and partisanship is so strong today that people rely on a few sources absolutely instead of thinking critically. So even being a cheerleader for a gameshow-host president with no respect for the rule of law or America's reputation in the world may not be a career-ending move.

Inevitably the machines must win, but there is still a long way to go before a human on his or her best day is unable to defeat the best computer.

If we look to the south, to Iran, which cannot be "accused" of excess democratic zeal - it goes without saying that the unstable situation does not prepare the ground for a democratic development.