Hawaii Public Radio had a very interesting story yesterday about a monarchist from Russia who is taking extraordinary steps to reestablish the Romanov Dynasty of the Russian Empire (which was overthrown in 1917). In essence, Anton Bakov, a Russian businessman and former Member of Parliament, is purchasing up islands around the Pacific and promulgating them to be part of a new sovereign state called “Imperial Throne,” or “Romanov Empire,” which purports to be the successor to the Russian Empire. Bakov in turn got a claimant to the Russian throne, Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, to become the Emperor of the new state (ascending the throne as “Nicholas III”).

Ankov is now purportedly in talks with Kiribati to purchase three uninhabited islands in the tiny Republic, one of which is slated to become the capital of the revived Russian Empire.

The concept of revived monarchy is a very interesting one; however, this particular idea does not seem well thought out. The revival of the great Russian Empire may well be short-lived due to the effects of climate change: these uninhabited atolls are very low-lying islands that will probably be swallowed by the ocean in the not-too-distant future.