Institute of Modern Russia

Among the invited experts were David Kramer, the president of Freedom House, Blair Ruble, the director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and J. Michael Waller, a professor at the Institute of World Politics.

Panel moderator Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, began by briefly outlining some political circumstances related to the upcoming elections: the refusal by the Central Election Commission to register certain political parties (including the People's Freedom Party), the entrance of Mikhail Prokhorov into politics, and the government’s tight control of the media.

Describing the political climate in Russia, Kramer said that the results of the parliamentary and presidential elections were no surprise and had been predetermined long ago. The case of St. Petersburg’s municipal elections in August is another example of the manipulation of the Russian political process. The winner in the St. Petersburg governor’s race was Valentina Matviyenko, who won approximately 95% of the votes in one voting district. The decision to hold the elections was made at the last minute, and Matviyenko announced her desire to run four days after the registration deadline. According to Kramer, the same will happen with elections on the federal level.

Kramer continued by saying that some people’s hope for political change after the elections had already faded by the end of September when Vladimir Putin announced his intention to run for the presidency. Despite the call to boycott the elections, the opposition, according to Kramer, does not pose any real threat to the current powers. He concluded that the current political situation in Russia presents “a gloomy and ugly picture.”

Ruble agreed with the previous speakers that the election results were predetermined. In his opinion, one of the problems with Russian politics and society is the absence of competing interests. Today's society is fragmented, and authorities have no mechanisms to bridge the stratified population, which is separated by income, age and other social factors. Lack of interaction between society and the political system results in a very unfavorable political situation. In conclusion, Ruble said that the U.S.’s stance toward Russia should be better defined, and that the U.S. should apply more firm pressure on the regime.

In his speech, Waller said that even 20 years after the collapse of the USSR, there is no hint of democracy in Russia. The political system is based on compromising materials and blackmail. Waller knows the harshness of the Russian regime from personal experience: some of his friends and co-workers, including Galina Starovoitova, a well-known human rights activist and member of the State Duma, have been beaten or even assassinated. Waller also criticized the U.S. for its idleness towards human rights violations by Russian authorities. In his opinion, the U.S. should defend democratic principles and not put economic interests above the rights and freedoms of people. "We need to start telling the truth about politics in Russia and the biographies of the Russian leaders," Waller stated.

During a Q&A session at the end of the panel, the experts were asked about the growing problem of nationalism and extremism in Russia. The panelists agreed that the problem exists and that ethnic tensions can be seen in some cities, especially in Moscow. However, the situation, as Ruble explained, varies by region. Some panelists also agreed that the Russian government is inclined to stir up the growing nationalist sentiments.

When asked how the U.S. and other Western countries could help Russia, the panelists unanimously suggested the idea of passing a law similar to the Magnitsky Act, which could be a great tool to fight the regime in Russia.