When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Russia

While Chavez Gets Embalmed, Lenin May Be Kicked Out Of Red Square

KOMMERSANT (Russia)

Worldcrunch

MOSCOW - There are fresh grumblings in the Russian government suggesting that Vladimir Lenin has finally overstayed his welcome in Red Square.

Lenin’s body has been displayed in a specially-designed mausoleum in the central Moscow square since his death in 1924 -- the kind of treatment that apparently is destined for Venezuelan's recently departed leader Hugo Chavez.

But Mikhail Fedotov, the head of Russia's Presidential Council on Human Rights, is calling for Lenin's body to be moved to a more appropriate locations for a dead human being - like a graveyard, Kommersant reports.

“You can’t have shows and concerts at graveyards,” explained Fedotov, referring to the special events that take place periodically in Red Square.

[rebelmouse-image 27086390 alt="""" original_size="800x494" expand=1]

Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square (wikimedia)

He said that the body should be moved somewhere that could become a ‘pan-Russian Pantheon,’ of important historical figures. The mausoleum building is included in Red Square’s UNESCO world heritage site designation, so it would remain, but possibly be converted into a historical museum, Kommersant reports.

But not everyone sees an innocent attempt to give Lenin a more decent resting place. According to Vadim Solovev, head of the Communist Party’s legal service, “whenever the ruling party starts to have problems, it tries to make public opinion focus on the past.”

[rebelmouse-image 27086391 alt="""" original_size="160x120" expand=1]

(archive.org)

He says that this idea is purely political, and that the government always talks about moving Lenin when it is feeling threatened. “Now there’s a lot of social unrest, an active opposition movement, people protesting in the street. The issue of Lenin’s body isn’t appropriate now. The next generation of Russians will decide for themselves where they think Lenin’s body should reside,” he told Kommersant.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Geopolitics

U.S., France, Israel: How Three Model Democracies Are Coming Unglued

France, Israel, United States: these three democracies all face their own distinct problems. But these problems are revealing disturbing cracks in society that pose a real danger to hard-earned progress that won't be easily regained.

Image of a crowd of protestors holding Israeli flags and a woman speaking into a megaphone

Israeli anti-government protesters take to the streets in Tel-Aviv, after Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant.

Dominique Moïsi

"I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat," reads the t-shirt of a Republican Party supporter in the U.S.

"We need to bring the French economy to its knees," announces the leader of the French union Confédération Générale du Travail.

"Let's end the power of the Supreme Court filled with leftist and pro-Palestinian Ashkenazis," say Israeli government cabinet ministers pushing extreme judicial reforms

The United States, France, Israel: three countries, three continents, three situations that have nothing to do with each other. But each country appears to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown of what seemed like solid democracies.

How can we explain these political excesses, irrational proclamations, even suicidal tendencies?

The answer seems simple: in the United States, in France, in Israel — far from an exhaustive list — democracy is facing the challenge of society's ever-greater polarization. We can manage the competition of ideas and opposing interests. But how to respond to rage, even hatred, borne of a sense of injustice and humiliation?

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest