Search Results for: Aslund

‘Dictators in Moneyland’: Challenging kleptocracy

     

Ever since the earliest years of this century, Ukraine has been the contested frontier in a grand ideological struggle between democracy and kleptocracy, analyst Franklin Foer writes for The Atlantic. … Read more »

Moscow Protests’ Rare Show of Defiance & Solidarity – A New Reality for Putin’s Russia?

     

A growing number of Russian entertainers on Tuesday joined in a rare show of defiance and solidarity, in support of an actor who they say was wrongfully convicted of resisting… Read more »

‘Unprecedented wind in sails’ of anti-kleptocracy initiatives

     

Over the past year, an extraordinary burst of anti-kleptocracy legislation—much of it intended to counter Russian influence—has taken aim at the tools and tactics of foreign criminals looking to move… Read more »

Protecting the roots of Putin’s power: Kremlin drops all pretense of democracy

     

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies claims that the Kremlin used disinformation and other tactics in the 2016 presidential election, Reuters reports: In an… Read more »

Putin v. the People: Divided Russia faces perilous politics

     

According to a new survey from WCIOM, one of Russia’s leading polling agencies, trust in Russian president Vladimir Putin has fallen to an all-time low of 31.7 percent, notes Samuel A…. Read more »

Russia’s ‘opposition at a distance’ as new civil society emerges?

     

The entire politics desk of one of Russia’s top daily newspapers, Kommersant, quit on Monday in protest over censorship after two veteran reporters were fired. The walkout at the newspaper controlled… Read more »

Russia’s crony capitalism: from market economy to kleptocracy?

     

Russia’s main problem isn’t populism, but elitism in two basic forms, says analyst Emil Pain, the paternalist one in the state based on tradition and the “snobbish” version held many… Read more »

Ukraine’s ‘Electoral Maidan’: good news for democracy, bad news for the Kremlin

     

Political novice and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky won a sweeping victory [HT: Foreign Policy] in Ukraine’s elections what is seen as a protest vote against Ukraine’s establishment. He beat out incumbent President… Read more »

Ukraine ‘still involved in existential struggle’

     

After the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, the country will likely be stuck with an oligarch-linked president yet again. The two presidential front-runners are Volodymyr Zelensky, a… Read more »