Graded IR Class

“Even though many issues are global, the number of major players [in international relations] is relatively small,” he says. “If students so choose, they can insert themselves into or around these decisionmaking circles.”

“In Russia, no one thinks that Russia is guilty,” said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who specializes in studying Russia’s political elite.

That is the theme of much of coverage on state-run television, which has also aired all manner of theories lifted from the dark corners of the web.

Anastasia Lukina, 30, a sales manager in Moscow, said either side might have shot down the plane. “So the West says it wants a full investigation, but they’ve already accused us of killing those people?” she said. “We all know what the conclusion to that investigation will be. So why even bother pretending? Russia is the world’s scapegoat.”