Home - Institute of Modern Russia

Lost Cause: On the 20th Anniversary of the Russian Constitution

Details: 11 December 2013; Ekaterina Mishina

December 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to some estimates, over $600,000 were spent on pompous celebration activities. Meanwhile, as IMR legal expert Ekaterina Mishina notes, the constitution has begun to be treated as a fetish, while its real content is ignored. Legal initiatives and veiled statements calling for defiance of the constitution’s direct instructions are not a rare case anymore.

Details: Law

Two Big News Events about the Fight against Corruption

Details: 10 December 2013; Ekaterina Mishina

This November Information Science for Democracy (INDEM) Foundation published a significant book titled Russian Corruption: The Scale, Structure, and Dynamics. This book represents the results of a series of sociological studies conducted by INDEM between 2001 and 2010. IMR Advisor Ekaterina Mishina, a prominent Russian legal expert, analyzes this publication in the context of the Russian government’s latest attempts to fight corruption.

Details: Nation

On Russia’s European Choice

Details: 09 December 2013; 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 issues that prevent Russia from joining the “European family.”

Details: Nation

Creating a Distraction: On the State and Religion in Russia

Details: 06 December 2013; Alexander Podrabinek

The initiative of Duma member Elena Mizulina to enshrine a role for Orthodox Christianity in the Russian Constitution and the proposal by Civic Platform party leader Mikhail Prokhorov to adopt a special religious code greatly differed in style—but, according to author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek, both of them contradicted the principle of a secular state.

Details: Politics

The Fatal Error of Viktor Yanukovych

Details: 05 December 2013; Tatiana Stanovaya

Following Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU, thousands of protest actions (comprising between 200,000 and one million participants, according to differing data) broke out in Ukraine, resembling the Orange Revolution of 2004. Political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya discusses whether the current events in Kiev will lead to a change of government.

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.