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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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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