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Why Russia fails to protect intellectual property

Details: Analysis

Why Russia fails to protect intellectual property

Details: 31 August 2021; Igor Slabykh

On average, 62 percent of software in Russia is estimated to be pirated. For decades, the country has been on the U.S. watchlist of the world’s most vicious intellectual rights infringers. Even the Russian government is implicated in using software counterfeits.

Lessons in politics: The struggles of the Russian regions’ vaccine rollout

Details: Analysis

Lessons in politics: The struggles of the Russian regions’ vaccine rollout

Details: 27 August 2021; András Tóth-Czifra

The problem of Russia’s slow vaccination rate is multilayered, with high vaccine hesitancy and insufficient production providing only partial explanations. Vaccine rollouts have varied widely across Russia’s regions, and local officials have struggled to maneuver the country’s centralized political system, a reluctant population, and regional specifics. Regional differences reflect the deeply rooted political issues of governance and public trust.

Nord Stream II: Germany’s choice, everyone’s problem

Details: Analysis

Nord Stream II: Germany’s choice, everyone’s problem

Details: 23 August 2021; Vera Michlin-Shapir

The controversial Nord Stream II pipeline, which is reportedly expected to be finished by the end of August, has caused deep divisions along political and ideological fault lines in the West. While discussions on the issue mostly focus on the geopolitical or business side of the project, how the pipeline plays into the Kremlin’s strategy of informational-psychological influence has remained largely neglected. As such, Nord Stream II could be seen as a political win for Moscow.

How the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan threatens Russia

Details: Analysis

How the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan threatens Russia

Details: 11 August 2021; Dmitry Shlapentokh

The U.S. departure from Afghanistan marks the culmination of the long turbulent period that began with the 1979 Soviet invasion. During this time, Afghan Islamists emerged as the adversary of both the U.S. and the USSR/Russia, and the discord between the latter helped them survive and persevere. While some Russian observers might see the U.S. withdrawal as a defeat and weakness, this development might bring about more problems for Moscow than benefits.

Report review, Reiderstvo 2.0: The Illegal Raiding Pandemic in Russia

Details: Analysis

Report review, Reiderstvo 2.0: The Illegal Raiding Pandemic in Russia

Details: 06 August 2021; Liya Wizevich

On August 6, Michael Calvey, one of Russia’s most prominent foreign investors, was sentenced to five and a half years of suspended prison term for embezzlement in a case that has become “emblematic of the country’s reputation as an often treacherous place to do business.” Earlier this summer, similar conclusions were drawn in a report titled “Reiderstvo 2.0: The Illegal Raiding Pandemic in Russia,” which was prepared by the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University. IMR reviews the report, which highlights reiderstvo’s “devastating effects” on Russian business.

Bard College declared “undesirable” in Russia. What now?

Details: Analysis

Bard College declared “undesirable” in Russia. What now?

Details: 15 July 2021; Liya Wizevich

On June 21, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office recognized Bard College as an “undesirable” organization, making it the first education institution to be blacklisted in the country. With the further stiffening of the existing “undesirables” law and the Putin regime’s overall aversion to foreign influence, the precedent is set for targeting other Western educational institutions in the future.

How the U.S. and Russian constitutions were changed

Details: Analysis

How the U.S. and Russian constitutions were changed

Details: 08 July 2021; Ekaterina Mishina

July 4 marked one year since Russia amended its Constitution in the most ambitious change to the country’s Basic Law since its adoption. Free University professor Ekaterina Mishina conducts a comparative analysis of the history of constitutional amendments in the United States and Russia, highlighting their opposite nature: if the U.S. amendments were aimed at expanding citizens’ rights and clarifying the competencies of state bodies, the Russian amendments only strengthened the power of the president.

How Russian officials use legal tools against journalists

Details: Analysis

How Russian officials use legal tools against journalists

Details: 08 July 2021; Igor Slabykh

Journalists in Russia are under growing pressure simply for doing their job. Attacks on independent investigative projects have become routine, while high-profile officials and businessmen increasingly engage in litigation against journalists and bloggers over the slightest sign of criticism. Given the Russian courts’ practice, the former have powerful legal tools to stifle press freedom in the country.

Why the Kremlin is in no rush to fight the third wave of the pandemic

Details: Analysis

Why the Kremlin is in no rush to fight the third wave of the pandemic

Details: 07 July 2021; Vladislav Inozemtsev

Since July 1, Russia has been hitting COVID-19 mortality rate records on a daily basis, while the number of new cases has also been growing. However, during his annual Direct Line conference, Vladimir Putin yet again emphasized that vaccinations in Russia will not be mandatory and decisions on restrictive measures will remain at the discretion of regional leaders. The Kremlin is clearly sticking to its old tactic of “taking the situation under control”—a bureaucratic euphemism that stands for freezing the problem instead solving it.

How the West and Russia reacted to the Biden-Putin Summit in Geneva

Details: Analysis

How the West and Russia reacted to the Biden-Putin Summit in Geneva

Details: 30 June 2021; Liya Wizevich

On June 16, U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva for a bilateral meeting and talks. IMR has rounded up the immense range of reactions and analysis from Western and Russian policymakers, journalists, and experts to make sense of the real and perceived outcomes of the summit.

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