The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) runs a fascinating website that posts memoirs of Russian Jewish immigrants who arrived over the last 40 years. A friend of the family who runs the site asked me to write up my own story for them. Since HIAS helped out my parents when we first arrived in the […]
Archive | Russia
On Immigrants Changing Russian Names
Fellow Russian Jewish immigrant Alina Simone recently wrote a New York Times op ed about her decision to change her last name from the original “Vilenkin,” which she considered to be a liability for an “aspiring indie rock singer.” Historically, it is not unusual for immigrant actors and other performers to change foreign-sounding names that […]
Was Ayn Rand the Most Influential Russian Immigrant to the United States?
I have previously blogged about the massive impact that Ayn Rand had as the leading modern popularizer of libertarianism and the recent controversy over whether she is an asset or liability for free market advocates today. An interesting question (at least to me) is whether Rand was the most influential Russian immigrant to the United […]
Retrospective on the Iranian Hostage Crisis
Last week, I was interviewed by Radio Free Europe’s Russian-language station about the 30th anniversary of the Iranian seizure of American diplomatic hostages in Tehran. The transcript, in Russian, is here. For the fraction of VC readers who do not read Russian (a fraction that is smaller than almost any other U.S. law/policy weblog), here’s […]
When the Berlin Wall Came Down, Twenty Years Ago
I was a freshman in college, watching this Peter Jennings broadcast with my roommates in 75 Holder Hall with a sense of complete astonishment that the world could shift so suddenly– all the while trying to adjust the rabbit ears of our early 1970s TV to try to get better reception.
I Wasn’t Paying Attention When the Wall Came Down
I’m sorry I wasn’t and I don’t quite know what happened. I don’t say this to be flippant in the least. I knew that big things were happening, but unlike many others’ experiences, it all seemed very gradual to me and finally anti-climactic. It seemed like something that was gradually sliding into place that had […]
How my father helped free Soviet prisoners
Last month in Massachusetts, my father, Jerry Kopel, received the Soviet Jewry Freedom Award from the Russian Jewish Community Foundation. He was honored along with his fellow former legislator, Tilman Bishop. (Bishop is now an elected Regent of the University of Colorado. He is a conservative Republican from Grand Junction; my father is a liberal Denver Democrat.) […]
Two Views of Preemptive War
My Opinio Juris colleague Julian Ku noted there a few days ago that Bloomberg had reported that the Obama administration is considering plans to modify or end the Bush doctrine on preemptive use of military force: The Pentagon is reviewing the Bush administration’s doctrine of preemptive military strikes with an eye to modifying or possibly […]