Politics
A close look at the inner workings of authoritarian power in Russia and beyond, and the forces that could one day transform it: how the Kremlin holds and wields power, why the democratic opposition endures, and what a genuine political renewal would take
A new crackdown in Russia: the aftermath of March 26 protests
March 26, 2017 became the day of the most massive protest rallies since the protest wave of 2011-201 2 in Russia. According to some characteristics, the protests on…
Trump’s Pledge To Enforce the Global Magnitsky Act—A Skeptical View
Earlier this month the White House sent a letter to Congress pledging a commitment to the “robust and thorough enforcement” of the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act (GMA). The GMA, which grew…
Open Russia considered undesirable in Russia—now what?
On April 27, the General Prosecutor's Office introduced three structures created by Mikhail Khodorkovsky into the register of undesirable NGOs: Open Russia Civic Movement, UK, Otkritaya Rossiya, UK…
Insult without an answer: how the West failed to understand the Kremlin
Yesterday, Russian-speaking Facebook users discussed the recent speech of the new Russian representative to the U.N. Security Council. This speech still shocks Russian language users and provides material for gloomy…
The Game Hit the Dam
Alexander Morozov, a Russian political analyst, discusses the current developments in the Russian opposition’s camp. One month ago, a well-known politician Grigory Yavlinsky (leader of Yabloko Party) declared…
Kremlin has simply no time for Russian regions
In the context of recent all-Russia protests we have decided to take a deeper look on what is happening in Russian regions and what kind of local agenda…
Why Sunday’s Massive Protests Will Change Russia
The poem and song, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” became a rallying cry for social injustice in America in the 1970s. It weaved its way through many…
How to make sure the Kremlin remembers Boris Nemtsov
Last month, thousands of people held rallies and vigils in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities across Russia to mark the second anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, the…
Kislyak’s spider web of networks of oligarchs and Putin’s apologists in the U.S.
U.S. media has recently thrown a lot of light on subversion operations of Russian officials in the US. But even today, after waves of revelations of Moscow’s state-led…
A suitcase full of cash from the Solntsevo Mafia: does Putin have a compromat on the Hungarian leader?
Last week Vladimir Putin went to pay an official visit to Hungary, where he meet Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of the European leaders most loyal to the…