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Whose Idea Was It to Build a Winter Resort in the Warmest Part of Russia?

Putin's biggest critic talks about the troubles facing the Sochi Winter Olympics

Details: 18 June 2013; Olga Khvostunova

The investigative report “Winter Olympics in the Sub-Tropics: Corruption and Abuse in Sochi,” published by Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and pro-democracy activist Leonid Martynyuk, focuses on corruption in the run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. IMR Advisor Olga Khvostunova and Michael Weiss, editor-in-chief of The Interpreter, an IMR publication, interviewed Nemtsov about his report. (Both the report and the interview were translated into English by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick.)

Details: Press

Pavel Khodorkovsky: “The situation with Sergei Guriev makes it clear that another case against my father is being prepared.”

Details: 09 June 2013

The president of the Institute of Modern Russia, Pavel Khodorkovsky, son of the best-known Russian political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, gave an exclusive interview to RFI on the eve of his father's birthday, in which he talked about the possibility of a third case being brought against his father, the degeneration of the Russian judicial system, and why he thinks that human rights issues should be raised at the European level.

Details: Nation

Good Governance for Russia: UN Plans After 2015

Details: 17 June 2013; Boris Bruk

In May, the UN High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda presented a report entitled “A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development.” IMR Advisor Boris Bruk is skeptical about the prospects for the realization of these goals in Russia.

Details: Politics

Russian Clans’ Ongoing Feud

Details: 12 June 2013; Donald N. Jensen

The fundamental driver of Russian elite politics is the clan: a network of personal contacts that cuts across facile divisions between “state” and “oligarchs,” liberals” and “conservatives,” and “reformers” and “siloviki.” According to Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, despite constant struggles between these clans, they haven’t been able to produce a political leader who would succeed to the current president.

Details: Politics

The Case of Sociologists: Who Needs Honest Opinion Polls?

Details: 10 June 2013; Tatiana Stanovaya

The Analytical Center of Yuri Levada, one of Russia’s most reputable polling organizations, has received a warning from the Savelovsky interdistrict prosecutor’s office for its unwillingness to register itself as a “foreign agent.” According to the prosecutors, the Levada Center violates a new law that prohibits NGOs from being involved in political activity and receiving foreign funding without revising the organization’s status. Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya argues that it is not the foreign funding, but rather the publication of sociological data that has provoked the Kremlin’s ire, and talks about where honest sociology can lead.

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