Analysis - Institute of Modern Russia

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Has Patriotism in Russia Been Hijacked?

Details: Nation

Has Patriotism in Russia Been Hijacked?

Details: 08 May 2014; Boris Bruk

Patriotism has been officially named as one of the uniting foundations of the Russian state. However, it seems that Russian authorities are trying to monopolize the notion of patriotism in order to advance their own agenda. What remains excluded from the official discourse is how the Russian public understands patriotism. IMR Advisor Boris Bruk delves into this complicated issue and concludes that, in the current political environment, the concept of Russian patriotism has developed negative features of nationalism, xenophobia, and intolerance toward others.

The Legislation Phantom

Details: Politics

The Legislation Phantom

Details: 05 May 2014; Alexander Podrabinek

On April 23, the State Duma adopted in its second and third readings a law on liability for the public rehabilitation of Nazism. As writer Alexander Podrabinek observes, some parts of the new law repeat verbatim article 190-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, according to which many Soviet dissidents were convicted for “spreading knowingly false fabrications” about the Soviet system.

The Birth of Imperial National Communism

Details: Nation

The Birth of Imperial National Communism

Details: 30 April 2014; Alexander Yanov

The Institute of Modern Russia continues its series of articles by well-known historian Alexander Yanov on the history of Russian nationalism. This essay begins a new cycle of the series: the history of the Russian idea in the Soviet Union. The author discusses what happened with the Russian idea in the first decade after the Russian Revolution, both in Russia and abroad.

Decline of Free Speech

Details: Politics

Decline of Free Speech

Details: 29 April 2014; Alexander Podrabinek

On April 29, Russia’s Federation Council passed a law that tightens government control over the dissemination of information on the Internet and treats bloggers as journalists. A week earlier this so-called “antiterrorism package” was adopted by the State Duma. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, this law fits in with the current trend in Russia of giving the government a free hand while imposing restrictions on citizens.

In Search of Lost Ideology

Details: Nation

In Search of Lost Ideology

Details: 24 April 2014; Tatiana Stanovaya

The Constitution of the Russian Federation unequivocally bans the establishment of a state ideology. However, the recent conservative trend in Russian politics increasingly resembles a regime-supported official ideology. According to political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, the crisis in Ukraine served as a powerful boost to the creation of a new ideological base for Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Ukraine Talks Off to a Modest Start in Geneva

Details: World

Ukraine Talks Off to a Modest Start in Geneva

Details: 24 April 2014; Donald N. Jensen

On April 17, at the talks in Geneva, officials from the United States, Russia, the European Union, and Ukraine agreed on a framework to reduce tensions in Ukraine, including demobilizing armed groups and giving their members amnesty; vacating seized government buildings; and establishing a program of political reform. However, as Donald N. Jensen, resident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, notes, the tensions will likely be eased only temporarily.

Legal Gymnastics

Details: Law

Legal Gymnastics

Details: 21 April 2014; Ekaterina Mishina

On April 8, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized as constitutional the 2012 amendments to the federal laws “On non-commercial organizations” and “On public associations”—the notorious “law on foreign agents.” IMR advisor Ekaterina Mishina comments on the ruling of the Constitutional Court and the court’s legal stance with regard to these amendments.

Dual Citizenship Check

Details: Law

Dual Citizenship Check

Details: 15 April 2014; Ekaterina Mishina

On March 31, 2014, Deputy Andrei Lugovoy, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, introduced a bill to the State Duma making the failure to provide information about foreign citizenship (nationality) to immigration authorities a criminally liable offense. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina analyzes this bill and comments on Russia’s history of parliamentary attempts to criminalize dual citizenship.

How to Regulate Separatism

Details: Politics

How to Regulate Separatism

Details: 11 April 2014; Alexander Podrabinek

The lack of international regulation of separatist processes has resulted in a whole spectrum of interstate abuses, including the use by aggressive countries of separatist movements as a smokescreen for their objective of annexing neighboring territories. Russia’s behavior toward Crimea serves as a striking example of such an abuse. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, the creation of an international convention on separatism could help the problem.

The Czar’s Last Mistake, Part Two

Details: Nation

The Czar’s Last Mistake, Part Two

Details: 10 April 2014; Alexander Yanov

The Institute of Modern Russia continues its series of articles by Alexander Yanov on the history of Russian nationalism. The current essay is published in two parts. In the first part, the author argues that Czar Nicholas I brought Russia to the outbreak of the fatal Crimean War of 1853–56. Part two explains why this war is portrayed as a “conspiracy against Russia” in Russian history textbooks.

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