Analysis - Institute of Modern Russia

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FT: Out of the Shadows

Details: Nation

FT: Out of the Shadows

Details: 30 September 2011

In a recent article in the Financial Times Charles Clover, the publication’s Moscow bureau chief, writes that Vladimir Putin’s plan to return as president “unleashes open rebellion within the Kremlin.” As he explains, a series of political scandals in September might indeed be a sign of tectonic shifts in the mood of the Russian elite.

Igor Yurgens: Russian Political System is in the Dead End

Details: Nation

Igor Yurgens: Russian Political System is in the Dead End

Details: 29 September 2011

In his recent online interview to Kommersant newspaper Igor Yurgens, head of INSOR, speaks about modernization of the political regime in Russia. If it doesn’t happen, there will be catastrophe, he says.

Russian Criminal Code as a Tool to Suppress Business

Details: Law

Russian Criminal Code as a Tool to Suppress Business

Details: 28 September 2011; Ekaterina Mishina

The Russian Criminal Code constitutes an obvious threat to further social and economic development in Russia, says Ekaterina Mishina, Assistant Professor on the Law Faculty of Russia’s National Research University Higher School of Economics. Prof. Mishina discusses the issues with the Institute of Modern Russia.

Boris Nemtsov: In Russia one should live long

Details: Politics

Boris Nemtsov: In Russia one should live long

Details: 26 September 2011; Caterina Innocente

Caterina Innocente speaks with Boris Nemtsov, a leading member of the Russian opposition, about the latest governmental reshuffle, the dangers of Putinism, and the importance of the Cardin List

Liliya Shevtsova: Russia:The Logic of Decline

Details: Nation

Liliya Shevtsova: Russia:The Logic of Decline

Details: 22 September 2011

Last week Novaya Gazeta published a remarkable article by Liliya Shevtsova, a fellow of the Carnegie Center in Moscow. Shevtsova analyzes the nature of the Russian political regime and makes a disappointing prognosis: the regime’s failure is unavoidable.

INSOR and its Critics

Details: Nation

INSOR and its Critics

Details: 22 September 2011; Alexander Yanov

For a person of liberal convictions — if he is not a competitor like Gleb Pavlovsky (Foundation for Effective Politics), or a moderate nationalist like Alexander Privalov (Expert magazine), or a historian like myself — there really is nothing with which to compete in the works of INSOR (Russia’s Institute of Contemporary Development) — whether it be “The Image of the Desired Tomorrow” or “Attaining the Future.” (Of course, the democratic opposition also has no small number of caustic words addressed to the Insorian faith in Medvedev — without the Putinite “noose around the neck” — but for now it cannot offer an even remotely real alternative to this faith. A very precise notion about this is given by Semyon Novoprudsky’s essay “Jesters of the Republic”: “As sad as this may be, for now the only strategy for Russia is seen as a relatively painless, yet fundamental demolition of the current system.” But the author himself does not communicate just how this “painless, yet fundamental demolition” might look. Nor, alas, do his colleagues from the democratic camp.)

Pavel Khodorkovsky: Authorities are afraid of cataclysms

Details: Politics

Pavel Khodorkovsky: Authorities are afraid of cataclysms

Details: 18 September 2011; Caterina Innocente

Pavel Khodorkovsky, the oldest son of Russia's No. 1 political prisoner, spoke with Caterina Innocente about his views on the prospects for the social movement and political change in the country.

Jackson-Vanik is “Next Big Question In U.S.-Russian Relations”

Details: World

Jackson-Vanik is “Next Big Question In U.S.-Russian Relations”

Details: 14 September 2011

On September 13, a panel of prominent American experts convened at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs to discuss the Jackson-Vanik amendment that has been a stumbling block in U.S.-Russian relations for 37 years. According to the expert discussants, the amendment will finally be lifted as a Cold War-era relic upon Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

The New York Times: President Medvedev Doesn’t Seize the Moment

Details: Nation

The New York Times: President Medvedev Doesn’t Seize the Moment

Details: 13 September 2011

Last weekend in Russia was marred by a horrible tragedy. An airplane crash killed a hockey team from Yaroslavl. By coincidence, it was Yaroslavl, where a political forum hosted by the Russian president, was taking place.

Details: Nation

Ariel Cohen: Russia Squanders Its Chance at Democracy

Details: 08 September 2011

In his recent article in National Interest, Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, discusses the opportunities that went by the wayside of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s road to democracy.

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