The anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact has once again sharpened the polemics around the events of 70 years ago. The desire to defend the positions of one's country at all costs is completely understandable from the psychological point of view if you live within an "us vs. them" paradigm in which "us" must always be right.
In a nutshell, Iranians in this election faced a stark choice -- either confrontation with the West and growing authoritarianism at home or the reopening of a dialogue with the outside world and a gradual domestic liberalization. The announced results would seem to indicate convincingly that Iranians chose the first option. But a closer look reveals a different picture. Never before in Iran's history has a defeated candidate publicly disputed the results of an election.
Aleksei Makarkin says the number of skeletons being dragged out of the closet during the current campaign to choose a successor to Patriarch Aleksy II is unprecedented for the Russian Orthodox Church.
Aleksy was a tolerant patriarch who was able to steer the Church through dangerous waters -- and that was his main service to the Russian Orthodox Church. At a difficult time, he was able to consolidate the Church on the basis of common values while acknowledging the possibility of dissent.
