Institute of Modern Russia

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Media Must-Reads

The Rise of the Russian Nationalism, the Secret of Putin’s Survival, and the Return of Stalin

May 28–June 3

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03 June 2016

In this week’s Western media highlights, Richard Arnold discusses in The Washington Post the results of a new study of Russian nationalism, arguing that the Kremlin’s embrace of imperial nationalism poses a threat to the regime in the future. In the Russian media, Andrei Baunov, in his article for Carnegie.ru, compares the Greek and Russian Orthodoxy and their respective links to Russian politics. And professor Ivan Kurilla argues in RBC that in Russia, history has become “the language of politics.”

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Media Must-Reads

Savchenko’s Release, Reforms Without Time, and Why Russian People Never Smile

21–27 May

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27 May 2016

In this week’s Russian media highlights, commentator Tatiana Stanovaya argues in Carnegie.ru that Putin released the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko hoping to improve Russia’s relationship with the West, even though the exchange was a bad option for the Kremlin. And political scientist Alexander Rubtsov argues in Vedomosti that the current discussion of reform in Russia lacks a number of crucial components, such as “when” and “how.” In the Western media, professor Timothy Frye in Foreign Affairs offers an explanation for why Western experts tend to misunderstand Russian politics today. And in the Atlantic, Olga Khazan reports on a study that could shed some light on Russians’ dislike of smiling faces.

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Economics

Sergey Aleksashenko: No Good News for Russia’s Federal Budget, But the Government’s in No Hurry

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26 May 2016

Sergey Aleksashenko

In his latest commentary about recent events in the Russian economy, Sergey Aleksashenko, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, analyzes the prospects for economic reform in Russia, implementation of the federal budget, and oil price cycles.

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News

Russia’s Election Countdown

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25 May 2016

Please join the Atlantic Council, the Institute of Modern Russia and Free Russia Foundation on Thursday, June 9, 2016, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the Atlantic Council headquarters for a panel discussion on the prospects for Russia’s 2016 parliamentary vote, the opposition’s plans, and the international community’s role in ensuring free and fair elections.

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Law

The Hamlet Question: Autocracy or Federation? Part 1

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19 May 2016

Vladimir Pastukhov

The Institute of Modern Russia continues the discussion on the issues of Russian constitutionalism. Political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov explains why Russia’s unitary structure leaves it an autocratic empire, and why a federation would permit it to become a nation-state with functioning authority.

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Media Must-Reads

Russian Politics Under Putin, The Kremlin’s Candidate, and the Chernobyl Anniversary

23–29 April

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29 April 2016

In this week’s media highlights, Gleb Pavlovsky in Foreign Affairs reveals the key mechanisms of the Russian political system under Putin’s rule. And in Politico, Michael Crowley writes that the Kremlin has apparently picked its candidate in the current U.S. presidential campaign—Donald Trump. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, analysts discuss the possibility of Russia’s democratic transition and the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

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Economics

Sergey Aleksashenko: There Will Be No Reforms

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28 April 2016

Sergey Aleksashenko

In his latest article on key developments impacting the Russian economy, Sergey Aleksashenko, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, analyzes the latest official data and public statements, as well as manifestations of the ongoing economic crisis.

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Media Must-Reads

The Kremlin’s Perpetual Geopolitics, the Putin Myth, and Russia’s Long Search for Freedom

16–22 April

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23 April 2016

In this week’s Western media highlights, Stephen Kotkin in Foreign Affairs analyzes Russia’s foreign policy, which for centuries has been characterized by “soaring ambitions that have exceeded the country’s capabilities.” And in Vox, Mark Galeotti argues that Vladimir Putin is not as powerful as many Western observers imagine. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, Vedomosti covers an analysis by a group of economists analyze the country’s grim outlook for the upcoming decade, while human rights activists discuss the century-long transformations that have occurred in the Russian government and the public mind.

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Media Must-Reads

Putin’s War of Smoke and Mirrors, How the Panama Leak Will Change the World, Russia’s Cultural Determinism

9–15 April

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15 April 2016

In this week’s Western media highlights, Eerik-Niiles Kross discusses Putin’s hybrid war against the West, while Leonid Bershidsky comments on the Russian president’s latest call-in show. In the Russian media, Sergei Medvedev argues that the Panama papers scandal is the result of the work of three forces—net activism, demand for honest politics and direct democracy, and that they will eventually bring change in Russia. And Dmitri Travin suggests that Russia's current aversion to democracy is determined by historical reasons rather than the cultural fatalism.

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News

Pundits Call for International Oversight of the Investigation of Boris Nemtsov’s Murder

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08 April 2016

On April 1, a panel discussion on the current status of the investigation into Boris Nemtsov’s assassination took place at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington, D.C. A group of prominent panelists, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, David Kramer, John Herbst, and Carl Gershman, was joined by Boris Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, to discuss the specifics of the case, the political situation in Russia, and the need for international oversight of the investigation. The event was co-hosted by the Atlantic Council, the National Endowment for Democracy, the McCain Institute for International Leadership, and the Institute of Modern Russia.