In this week’s roundup, Alexander Vereschagin reviews the history of Russia’s special services, including the Cheka, KGB, and modern-day FSB; Konstantin Gaaze explains the rationale behind Alexei Ulyukayev’s guilty verdict; Vladimir Pastukhov discusses what the verdict in Ulyukayev’s case reveals about Russia’s political system; New Times writes about Russia’s State Duma recent bill to label bloggers as foreign agents; and Vitaly Gorokhov discusses the impact of the IOC’s ban on the Russian Olympic team.
In this week’s roundup, Andrei Kolesnikov argues why Putin’s reelection won’t change much in Russia; Alexander Morozov describes the main problems for Putin's electoral performance; Tatyana Stanovaya outlines five rules of survival for the state oligarchs; New Times surveys political scientists on their expectations of Putin's fourth term; and Andrei Movchan analyzes Alexei Navalny’s presidential platform.
In this week’s roundup, Maxim Trudolyubov comments on Vladimir Putin’s announcement to run for a fourth term; Kirill Rogov argues that current discussions about Putin’s future prime minister are futile; New Times profiles former FSB head, General Oleg Feoktistov who, until recently, led Igor Sechin’s special services group among Russia’s siloviki; Yekaterina Shulman discusses “accidental” democratization; Ivan Lyubimov recommends partial decentralization as a first step to reforming the political sphere.
In this week’s roundup, New Times discusses what the new bill forcing Western-funded outlets to register as “foreign agents” implies in reality; Oleg Demidov details why Russia offered to develop a separate Internet for the BRICS countries and how this could cause the fragmentation of the World Wide Web; Boris Kolonitsky talks about memory politics and what unites Russian people today; Oleg Kharkordin poses the question of whether Russia has a republican future; Aleksei Makarin continues the debate on how Russia can achieve economic and political development via transitional institutions.
In this week’s roundup, Ivan Pavlov explains the latest media law in Russia that would force foreign media to register as “foreign agents’’; Damir Gainutdinov shares the findings of Agora’s report titled “A Hundred Russian Whistleblowers”; Grigory Yavlinsky makes the case that in the long term, anti-Russian sanctions are a critical concern for the country; The Bell details Economic Minister Maxim Oreshkin’s plan to reform his office and set up a new standard for other state agencies; Sergei Guriev writes that Russia needs to establish transitional institutions first if it wants to move beyond its “dependency path.”
In this week’s roundup, New Times outlines four potential candidates for the position of prime minister during Putin’s presumed fourth term; Gleb Pavlovsky contends that the central political conflict in today’s Russia is not between Putin and Navalny, but between Putin and those who support a transition to the post-Putin future; Vladimir Pastukhov discusses the ways the October Revolution can influence Russia in the 21st century; Grigory Yavlinsky argues that the rise of Bolshevik power in Russia was the real geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century; Konstantin Tarasov explains why the Bolsheviks won in 1917.
In this week’s roundup, Nikolai Petrov analyzes the recent elites reshuffling; New Times examines Putin’s presidential administration and the limits to its authority; Oleg Balanovsky comments on Putin’s claims that foreign agents are allegedly collecting DNA samples from Russians to create “ethnic bioweapons” and engage in biological warfare with Russia; Tatiana Stanovaya writes how Putin is forced to exist in two worlds—the “decent” one that upholds democracy and a cruel geopolitical “reality” where Russia is a besieged fortress; and Alexander Cherkasov commemorates victims of political repressions.
In this week’s roundup: Andrei Zubov explains why the Russian authorities are ignoring the centennial the Russian Revolution; The Bell gauges the reactions of Russian businessmen on the recent U.S. sanctions law; New Times outlines potential strategies for Ksenia Sobchak’s presidential campaign; Ivan Kurilla discusses the decision not to revoke Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky’s doctorate of historical sciences; Alexander Rubtsov juxtaposes the new official rhetoric of modernization and the growing abundance of various “fakes” in Russia’s political and social life.
In this week’s roundup, New Times profiles Ksenia Sobchak, who announced her presidential bid this week; Kirill Rogov argues that Sobchak’s campaign is concocted by the Kremlin to split support for Alexei Navalny; Vedomosti discusses the Kremlin’s latest media strategy for fostering positivity; Yakov Mirkin explains what saved the Russian economy and the risks facing it today; Elena Milashina details the plight of the first openly gay victim of persecution in Chechnya, Mikhail Lapunov. If you are interested in receiving this weekly roundup in your mailbox every Friday, let us know at info@imrussia.org.
In this week’s roundup, New Times interviews economist Sergei Guriev on Russian economic growth and the influence of Western sanctions; Igor Nikolaev defies official statistics pointing to a growing economy; Leonid Isayev details last week’s visit of King Salman of Saudi Arabia to Moscow; Republic gets political advice from Alfa Group co-founder Mikhail Fridman; Vladimir Pastukhov outlines the real reasons behind the Serebrennikov case. If you are interested in receiving this weekly roundup in your mailbox every Friday, let us know at info@imrussia.org.
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