Institute of Modern Russia

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Economics

Alexey Navalny: Privatization is no "magic pill" to solve corruption

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01 November 2011

Privatization seems to be back on the front burner in Russia, since President Dimity Medvedev’s approval this past August of a new plan requiring the government to sell off many of its ownership stakes in Russian businesses by 2017. (According to the latest figures from Standard & Poor’s, state ownership of shares in Russian companies accounts for 53% of market capitalization in Russia.) However, firebrand Moscow attorney, investors’-rights activist and political blogger Alexey Navalny criticizes the increasingly popular idea that privatization could be a “magic pill” for curing the corruption that plagues Russia's still-developing economy.

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Politics

Andrey Piontkovsky: Which Will Fall First – the Regime or Russia as a State?

Putin's political model is obsolete, says Andrei Piontkovsky

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25 October 2011

Olga Khvostunova

According to Andrey Piontkovsky, Senior Fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Systems Analysis, Vladimir Putin's one man dictatorship has been effectively put into place as of September 2011. Piontkovsky spoke with IMR’s Olga Khvostunova about the catastrophic consequences of this regime and about the essential role that the political elite plays in this process.

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Law

Prof. Ekaterina Mishina reflects on 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of Judicial Reform in Russia: History Matters

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24 October 2011

Ekaterina Mishina

A couple of decades  ago, one would have written something along the lines of, “On October 24, 2011  all progressive people will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of judicial reform in Russia, a fundamental document symbolizing the start of considerable modifications in the judiciary, especially targeting the transformation of  Soviet courts into an independent branch of power.” Yes, the Soviet courts precisely, as the reform was initiated during Soviet rule, when the courts were Soviet both de facto and de jure.

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Nation

Why INSOR’s Ideology Is Utterly Unacceptable

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20 October 2011

Alexander Yanov

Alexander Yanov explains why is it that INSOR ideologues found themselves unexpectedly alligned with Dugin, and what was the “great turning point” in the ideology of the imperial revanchists.

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Nation

Rediscovering Russian America

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19 October 2011

W.P. Norton

The new intercontinental class of "Global Russians" and TV's sexy "Russian Dolls" are the faces of a culture on the rise across America. But to some who speak it here, keeping Russian alive matters more than any clash of cultures, writes W.P. Norton.

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Nation

The Washington Post: "Reset 2.0"

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17 October 2011

In a recent article, Kathy Lally, Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, gave a detailed account of U.S. [Department of State] officials visiting Russia. During this trip, it was revealed that the next stage of the “reset” policy would focus on human rights. 

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World

Michael McFaul Appointed U.S. Ambassador to Russia

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14 October 2011

On October 12, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held the confirmation hearing for Michael McFaul, selected by President Obama for the position of U.S. ambassador to Russia. According to McFaul, his move to Moscow would not affect the “reset” policy. 

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Nation

Artist from the Land of the Absurd

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08 October 2011

This past September, a new exhibition of political works by the absurdist artist Konstantin Latyshev went on display at Aidan Salakhova’s Moscow art gallery.

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Law

Prof. Ekaterina Mishina: Sapienti Sat (A Word to the Wise is Enough)

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05 October 2011

Ekaterina Mishina

A lone voice in the wilderness: On the first anniversary of the discussion of the “Kiev recommendations on Judicial Independence in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and central Asia”

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Nation

Remembering August 1991

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04 October 2011

“I look at the photographs of these boys and compare them with what I see in the reports of today’s crackdowns on demonstrations. It feels like human nature has changed. In my material, no matter how hard you might like to try, you can’t find any aggression — not on either side.”