‘In search of lost time’: standing up to Putin
Russia and the West are sliding into “a new Cold War,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned the recent 2016 Munich Security Conference, going on to ask: “Are we living… Read more »
Tag: Russia
Why protests won’t bring about a Russian color revolution
The disconnect between Russia’s population, civil society and the political elites means that popular revolt can only have a limited impact, Anna Arutunyan, author of The Putin Mystique, writes for the… Read more »
Kremlin deploying new tactics against NGOs
Russia’s Justice Ministry has deployed another tactic to shut down NGOs it says aren’t in compliance with the foreign agent law, Charles Digges reports: suing them in court and demanding… Read more »
Russian accused of silencing activists up for top U.N. NGO liaison post
A Russian diplomat accused of playing a role in President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on foreign human rights and pro-democracy activists has emerged as a frontrunner for a top job overseeing… Read more »
‘Political activity’ an existential issue in Russia
Defining “political activity” may seem like an academic exercise, but in Russia, it is an existential one, notes Tanya Lokshina, Russia program director at Human Rights Watch. The definition is… Read more »
Bleak prospects for Putinism – and Russian democracy
Russian President Vladimir Putin used to seem invincible. Today, he and his regime look enervated, confused, and desperate. Increasingly, both Russian and Western commentators suggest that Russia may be on… Read more »
Putin says Lenin was wrong, Stalin right: US says Putin ‘corrupt’
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday criticized Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, accusing him of placing a “time bomb” under the state, and sharply denouncing brutal repressions by the Bolshevik government,… Read more »
Russians ambivalent on democracy, civil liberties?
Russians are more concerned about economic and political stability than democracy, according to a new poll conducted by the Levada Center: The poll asked 1,600 Russian respondents to rank issues they viewed… Read more »
How the West’s normativists misjudged Russia
The expert community both in the West and Russia is retracing the steps that Sovietologists made in the 1980s, when they turned out to be completely unprepared for the disintegration… Read more »
The public sphere’s new enemies
All around the world, it seems, the walls are closing in on the space that people need to assemble, associate, express themselves freely, and register dissent, notes Chris Stone, president… Read more »