Analysis - Institute of Modern Russia

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Echoes of the Past: Punitive Psychiatry

Details: Nation

Echoes of the Past: Punitive Psychiatry

Details: 21 October 2013; Alexander Podrabinek

In October, Russian activist Mikhail Kosenko, one of the accused in the "Bolotnaya Square Case," was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment. This was the first instance of an open use of psychiatry for political purposes in post-Soviet Russia. Author and human rights campaigner Alexander Podrabinek, who was convicted in the 1970s for his book "Punitive Medicine," concludes that the Soviet practice of punitive psychiatry has returned to Russia.

Accessible Environments for Russians with Disabilities

Details: Nation

Accessible Environments for Russians with Disabilities

Details: 21 October 2013; Boris Bruk

Thirteen million people with disabilities currently reside in Russia—this is around 10 percent of the country’s population. Yet the conditions for their integration and normal everyday life are still highly inadequate. IMR Advisor Boris Bruk assesses the problem and the possible solutions.

There Is No Such Thing as a Former “Eminence Grise”: On the Return of Vladislav Surkov

Details: Politics

There Is No Such Thing as a Former “Eminence Grise”: On the Return of Vladislav Surkov

Details: 21 October 2013; Tatiana Stanovaya

In late September, former deputy Kremlin chief-of-staff Vladislav Surkov returned to the Kremlin as an assistant to President Vladimir Putin. Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya discusses why the Russian leader needed to rehabilitate the former “eminence grise.”

Hostile Takeover: On Putin’s “Judicial Reform”

Details: Law

Hostile Takeover: On Putin’s “Judicial Reform”

Details: 17 October 2013; Ekaterina Mishina

In early October, Vladimir Putin introduced a bill into the State Duma that would abolish Russia’s Supreme Arbitration Court and transfer its functions to the Supreme Court. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent legal scholar, contends that the bill destroys one of the few remaining accomplishments of Russia's judicial reforms.

The “Shelling of Parliament” or Coup d’Etat #2?

Details: Nation

The “Shelling of Parliament” or Coup d’Etat #2?

Details: 16 October 2013; Alexander Yanov

The twentieth anniversary of the crisis of September–October 1993—the conflict between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet—is being widely discussed in the media. Historian Alexander Yanov, a scholar of Russian nationalism, offers his perspective on these events.

Why Russia Doesn’t Need High Oil Prices

Details: Economics

Why Russia Doesn’t Need High Oil Prices

Details: 15 October 2013; Olga Khvostunova

Oil price fluctuations that exceed $100 per barrel create comfortable conditions for Russia’s economy, as its budget is balanced at around $90 per barrel. Further escalation of the situation in the Middle East could bring oil prices up, seemingly playing into the Russian government’s hands. But according to IMR Advisor Olga Khvostunova, high oil prices will not help the country’s sagging economy.

Putin’s “Praetorian Guard”

Details: Politics

Putin’s “Praetorian Guard”

Details: 10 October 2013; Donald N. Jensen

In September, Vladimir Putin appointed Colonel General Viktor Zolotov, who used to head the Russian president’s security service, as deputy commander of the Interior Ministry troops, a large paramilitary force of about 170,000 soldiers. This appointment may be a step toward the creation of a new National Guard. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, contends that Putin’s actions point to his fear of renewed mass protests in Russia.

Russia’s Slave Labor

Details: Nation

Russia’s Slave Labor

Details: 09 October 2013; Alexander Podrabinek

Last month, Russian political prisoner Nadezhda Tolokonnikova penned an open letter detailing the conditions in the Mordovia prison camp in which she is held. Among other things, she described forced prison labor. Author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek discusses the world’s conflicting attitudes to prison slave labor—and the goods it produces.

The Secret Service Terror and the “Jewish Question”

Details: Nation

The Secret Service Terror and the “Jewish Question”

Details: 07 October 2013; Alexander Yanov

The Institute of Modern Russia continues the series of articles by prominent historian Alexander Yanov. The new installment focuses on the views of the third generation of Slavophiles who called for the “neutralization” of Germany as part of the worldwide struggle against the Jews.

Questions for Medvedev

Details: Politics

Questions for Medvedev

Details: 07 October 2013; Tatiana Stanovaya

One of the best Soviet movies, The Very Same Munchausen, has a scene in which the baron, while preparing for a flight to the moon on a cannonball, with dramatic music playing in the background, is pressing his beloved Martha: “Say something!” She is frantically searching for words that she thinks the baron would like to hear, but he only keeps crying out in disappointment: “Wrong!” While listening to Dmitri Medvedev’s attempts at saying what people would like to hear, one wants to cry out: “Wrong!” Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya reviews the prime minister’s new article “The Time for Easy Solutions Has Passed.”

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