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They Chose Freedom: The Story of Soviet Dissidents

Details: 19 August 2013

On August 25, 1968, seven people came out into Moscow’s Red Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia in what became one of the boldest acts of political defiance in the Soviet Union. For the 45th anniversary of this historic event, the Institute of Modern Russia has sponsored the translation and English-language production of They Chose Freedom, a documentary film by Vladimir Kara-Murza that tells the story of dissent in the Soviet Union from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Details: Nation

The Birth of Pan-Slavism

Part Two

Details: 19 August 2013; Alexander Yanov

The Institute of Modern Russian continues the series of articles by the well-know historian Alexander Yanov. The first part of the essay on Pan-Slavism told the story of the birth of this movement. The second installment is dedicated to the standoff between radical “nomenklatura” and radical youth, and explains how Russia lost its chance for the timely adoption of the first сonstitution.

Details: World

US and Russia After the "Reset"

Details: 15 August 2013; Donald N. Jensen

The cancellation of the bilateral meeting between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin that had been scheduled for next month is being seen as a long-awaited acknowledgment from the White House that its “reset” policy had failed. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, argues that a new rapprochement between Washington and Moscow is unlikely any time soon.

Details: Politics

Not Stupidity, but Malevolence

Details: 15 August 2013; Alexander Podrabinek

Critics of the current Russian regime often call its actions “stupid” and detrimental to its own image. According to author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek, however, what looks like government “stupidity” is actually a well-thought out strategy.

Details: Politics

Why Putin Needs Ukraine

Details: 13 August 2013; Donald N. Jensen

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Ukraine on July 27 to attend a joint commemoration marking the 1,025th anniversary of Russia’s conversion to Christianity. As Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, points out, despite the religious nature of the occasion, Putin used the event to push for a more secular and, for the Kremlin, more pressing agenda.

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