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Sochi and the Circassian Issue

Details: 27 February 2014

Neither the Russian Olympic team’s victory in the unofficial medal competition at the Sochi Winter Games nor Russia’s achievements in sports can compensate for the number of acute issues that surfaced in the course of the Olympic preparations. One of them is the Circassian issue, which has been kept undeservingly under cover for years. Sufian Zhemukhov and Robert Orttung of George Washington University tell the story of the Russian conquest of Sochi, during which the Circassian population was almost wiped out.

Details: Nation

Slavophiles and the Birth of National Liberalism

Details: 26 February 2014; Alexander Yanov

The Institute of Modern Russia continues its series of articles by Alexander Yanov on the history of Russian nationalism. In this new essay, the author discusses the birth of national liberalism, a new world outlook that combines two conflicting ideologies: modern liberalism and the medieval belief in the exceptionalism of the Russian nation.

Details: World

Russia-EU: Speed-dating

Details: 25 February 2014; Elena Servettaz

Recent developments in Ukraine will once again test the EU-Russia relationship, which has been going through a rough patch. The cooling of relations was noticeable at the last Russia-EU summit in Brussels, as well as at the winter meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. The situation threatens to turn into a silent standoff. Paris-based author and analyst Elena Servettaz details the latest twists and turns of the bilateral relationship.

Details: Politics

Verdict for Prisoners of the Bolotnaya Case Is a Verdict for Russian Society

Details: 20 February 2014; Olga Khvostunova

Today, on February 21, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky court will read the verdict for eight prisoners of the Bolotnaya Square Case. Hardly anyone doubts that the verdict in this politically motivated show trial will be guilty. The defendants are facing five to six years in a penal colony. The only question left at the moment is how cruel the sentence will actually be.

Details: Politics

Special Prisons for the Extremely Dangerous

Details: 19 February 2014; Alexander Podrabinek

A bill is being prepared by the State Duma under which people convicted for terrorism and extremism would be held in separate facilities from those housing other convicts. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, this bill is yet another step that will bring Russia closer to a Soviet-style totalitarian state.

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