All Articles - Institute of Modern Russia

Details: Politics

Four Kinds of Crises for the Putin Regime—and the Beginning of Its End

Details: 27 November 2012; Tatiana Stanovaya

The circumstances surrounding the recent dismissal of Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his replacement with Sergei Shoygu (governor of the Moscow region and, prior to that, Emergency Management Minister) have put the crisis faced by the present Russian authorities in plain view. According to IMR expert Tatyana Stanovaya, this controversy indicates that Vladimir Putin’s regime is approaching its days of reckoning.

Details: Economics

Unlearned Lessons of State Capitalism: What Is Good for Gazprom Is Not Good For Russia

Details: 26 November 2012; Igor Booth

Russia’s state capitalism reached a new high when Rosneft became the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer after its acquisition of TNK-BP. This new landscape is the result of the “national champions” strategy that was the heart of Vladimir Putin’s economic policy during his thirteen years in power. According to IMR economic advisor Igor Booth, the story of Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer, provides good insight into the future of Rosneft and the Russian economy as a whole.

Details: World

Congress and the Kremlin: Magnitsky Act on Its Way to Final Passage

Details: 20 November 2012

Last week, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov visited Washington D.C. at the invitation of the Institute of Modern Russia. While in Washington, he held talks on the Magnitsky Act with senior members of Congress. Speaking at a joint meeting of the Institute of Modern Russia and the Council on Foreign Relations, Nemtsov stressed that the adoption of the Magnitsky Act will be an important victory for Russian society.

Details: Nation

Roads to the Temple: A New Book by Leon Aron

Details: 15 November 2012

On November 13th, Leon Aron, Director of Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, presented his new book, Roads to the Temple, at the Harriman Institute (Columbia University). The event was co-sponsored by the Institute of Modern Russia. In his work, Aron analyzed the period of glasnost and the reasons for the Soviet Union’s collapse. At the presentation, he discussed similarities between the protest movement of the late 1980s, and the present-day Russian opposition.

Details: Nation

Meet Achimez Gochiyaev, "the Russian Osama bin Laden"

Details: 14 November 2012

Here is an interview with Achimez Gochiyaev that took place on August 20, 2002. Before us is a man without a beard; behind him is a rug, not the flag of independent Ichkeria [the de facto secessionist republic in Chechnya]; there is no AK-47 leaning against the wall of the room where the recording is being made; in his hand is a pen. The interview was given to someone he “knew well” and recorded with a video camera. As proof of the tape’s existence I was sent the first minute of the video interview – and this is what we are showing to our viewers today.

Details: Politics

The Propaganda of the Putin Era

Part One: In Russia

Details: 13 November 2012

The Institute of Modern Russia is launching a series of publications that will be focused upon the operation of the propaganda machine within the system of power constructed by Vladimir Putin. In this first installment, IMR experts analyze the layout, content, and efficacy of propaganda geared toward “domestic consumption”—that is, toward sustaining the popularity of the regime and its leader among Russian voters.