Home - Institute of Modern Russia

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

Details: 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.

Details: World

Washington Debates the Price of Reset

Details: 02 November 2011

Speaking at a conference hosted last week by The Heritage Foundation, Russian opposition leader and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov delivered a withering critique of the Obama administration’s policies toward Russia. Seduced by the illusion of liberal reform during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, Kasparov said, Washington placed its bets on an impossible scenario, as Vladimir Putin never actually left the seat of power. James Kimer reports from Washington, DC.

Details: Politics

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

Putin's political model is obsolete, says Andrei Piontkovsky

Details: 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.

Details: Law

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

Details: 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.

Details: Nation

Why INSOR’s Ideology Is Utterly Unacceptable

Details: 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.

Our newsletter delivers a digest of analytical articles and op-eds published on our website, along with the latest updates on the IMR activities on a monthly basis.