Images of Empire: Depictions of America in Late Imperial Russian Editorial Cartoons

Abstract

Although historians have paid much attention to American perceptions of Russia, few have looked at Russian views of the United States, particularly in the imperial period. This paper surveys editorial cartoons in Novoe Vremia, one of the few Russian newspapers to publish illustrations as commentary on international affairs. Novoe Vremia published cartoons depicting the United States in the years between 1898 and 1912 in the late imperial period, that is, beginning with the War of 1898 and ending with the abrogation of the u.s.-Russia commercial treaty. This paper finds evidence for the argument that Russian views of American empire and race relations persisted into the Soviet period. However, the Russian Revolution swept away the strong anti-Semitic overtones in many portrayals of the United States, at least in editorial cartoons.

The Diplomacy of Whataboutism and US Foreign Policy Attitudes

“…This relative reasonability depended on the topic, with significant differences for political and personal topics but not scientific topics. ;Behringer 2018. 16.…”

“…15.Joshua Keating, “‘What about China?’ Is No Defense of American Injustice,” Slate, 7 April 2021; Ishaan Tharoor, “Turkey Condemns State of Press Freedom in Europe and the US,” Washington Post, 6 December 2016; Gustaf Kilander and Vishwam Sankaran, “Taliban Attacks Facebook over Freedom of Speech Concerns,” The Independent, 17 August 2021; Behringer 2018.…”