As Russia’s March 4th Presidential Election nears, Vladimir Putin is pulling out all the stops. Stinging from his party’s embarrassing showing in last November’s parliamentary elections and beleaguered by growing numbers of increasingly broadly-based protesters (some of whom are holding Moscow trapped in a motorised loop of dissent), he is grasping at every straw he […]
While U.S. voters grumble about Congressional deadlock and lack of presidential alternatives, we often forget how good we have it. A slow thaw from autocracy in former Soviet states since 1991 has uncovered various national specimens, from reformer to recidivist. Observers have watched with increasing pessimism as jailed and beaten opposition candidates, single-party access to […]
The following is a guest post by Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Social policy has many objectives and many dimensions. It entails providing support for the poor and those who are unable to earn a living for valid reasons. It means implementing social mobility and providing a level playing field for every person on […]
After being hospitalized last Thursday under mysterious circumstances, the winner of November’s South Ossetian presidential election had, as of yesterday, told the press that she may leave politics and is reportedly considering asking for asylum in an unnamed country. Alla Dzhiolyeva, 62, was transferred on Monday from intensive care to a “regular ward” in a […]
Georgian authorities report today that a bomb planted in the car of an employee of the Israeli embassy was defused by police. The employee was, according to Georgian TV news station Rustavi 2, a Georgian citizen by the name of Roman Khachaturian, a driver for the embassy and the luckiest man in Tbilisi. Khachaturian told […]
As Europe suffers a severe a cold snap, EU-Russian relations are experiencing a proverbial chill. The diplomatic cooling is the result of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s criticism of Putin’s democratic credentials. The sharpness of Ashton’s critique was for many a somewhat surprising, yet desirable development. Indeed, the tough stance on the state of […]
In the final installment of her fascinating radio series looking at Russia 20 years on from the Soviet collapse, veteran journalist, critical Russophile (and long-suffering friend of the FPA Russia blog!) Brigid McCarthy looks at a thorny issue: that Russia has still not yet figured out its identity. Brigid talks to Russian TV host Felix […]
On January 18, Russia’s Ombudsman for children, Pavel Astakhov, and Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated that they would seek an official moratorium on adoption of Russian children by American families. Cooperation on adoption between the two countries has seen its ups and downs following the pattern of U.S. -Russia relations, but the public discourse on […]
I wish I had uploaded this back in mid-November, but here it is. S. Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, presented his advice for American leadership in Central Asia.His presentation is a overview of US strategy and possibilities in a time of constrained resources and authoritarianism. Yet the US […]
“Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events” lamented an exasperated Russian police chief yesterday. What are these insidious technologies? Twitter? Talking spy rocks (wait, those are British!)? Putin’s beloved nano-particles? Wait, he was getting to that. The protesters are “using toys with placards at mini-protests”, he concluded. That’s right: toys. […]
The December protests in Russia against parliamentary election results have marked a momentous change to the current Russian political situation. The protests have revealed the looming necessity for authorities to respond in a timely manner, and to acknowledge the new scenario. Widespread public discontent with existing policies is shaping a new, uncomfortable reality for the Russian political leadership – […]
Who was the last citizen of the USSR? Obsessed with the 20th anniversary of the Soviet collapse, I watched a unique and astounding film. “Out of the Present” is a documentary about Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who became known as the last Soviet citizen because he was sent up to the Mir space station from […]
There is no real progress to report on the investigation into the murder of Rafiq Tagi, although as I mentioned shortly after his death, a number of theories—some of them rational, others not—cropped up immediately on social networking sites and internet forums. My guess is that Tagi was killed by Islamists who were incensed by […]
Forget democracy – Russia has dispensed with boring, empty bourgeois rituals like voting and peaceful protests in favour of some freedoms that really matter. Like the right to set fire to a police car, film yourself doing it, confess, and get away with it. That’s exactly what the radical anarchist art group “Voina” has done. […]
It was a rough but lucky landing (both “rough and “lucky” are strong understatements here) when a Soviet-built Tupolev (Tu-134) crash landed in dense fog in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan. According to The Washington Post 82 passengers and 6 crew members were evacuated, 31 of them were injured and 17 hospitalized. Miraculously everyone on board […]