How
should liberal Russians interact with an increasingly illiberal regime?
Writer and Putin critic Grigory Chkhartishvili (a.k.a Boris Akunin) delivered a simple message at yesterday's opposition rally in Moscow. 
Russian ballet dancers used to defect to the West, but two years ago Xander Parish left the Royal Ballet for St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Ballet. Extracts from his diary, from his first Giselle in St Petersburg to Scheherezade in Abu Dhabi, give a vivid illustration of the life of a dancer
Gogol's government inspector was a figure of fun. Russia's new government inspectors are anything but funny.
Vladimir
Putin has long paid lip service to the notion that his government should
address the problem of corruption. Is his new campaign for real, or will it be
more of a shootout between corrupt officials and businessmen with more or less
support from on high? 
Ivan
the Terrible had the feared Oprichniki to keep the silence. Men in black; their
insignia was a severed dog’s head (to sniff out treachery) and a broom (to
sweep the traitors away). In today’s Russia, the state has other, more or less,
fearsome means to keep the people from talking.
Kremlin control of the Russian media may not be absolute, though it comes pretty close, and the few independent media have to watch their backs constantly. Aleksey Levinson, Mikhail Sokolov and Zygmunt Dzieciolowski discuss the specifics of the situation in the context of the ever more authoritarian Putin regime
Marina Salye, who died in 2012, was the author of the 1992 Salye report revealing corruption by Vladimir Putin and his officials in St Petersburg City Hall. What happened to that report? 
Russia may be a huge land mass, but Maksim Trudolyubov believes it is
better to think of it as a pattern of islands, divided not by geography but by a
host of other factors. Here he looks at the island group he himself inhabits –
the independent media – as it battles against the waves. 
Most Russian TV outlets are kept under tight Kremlin control. TV Rain, an independent cable channel, has navigated many rapids in its short existence, but is nonetheless still operating. Natalya Sindeyeva describes her vision to Mumin Shakirov and Zygmunt Dzieciolowski.
The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev,
doesn't like his online nickname “Dimon,” but whatever we think of Dimon’s
playground problems how does one stand up to online bullies? And why are so
many of them Russian?
Broadcaster Vladimir Posner’s ‘slip of the tongue’, calling Russia’s parliament the Dura (fool) instead of the Duma, added yet another slur to the already emasculated body. A lapdog parliament is exactly what
Russia’s
Byzantine system of government has long been a rich subject for study. Could it
change? Might it suddenly have to? Possibly, but there are so many vested
interests and the upheaval would be considerable. Sergei Guriev reviews the
most recent of Alena Ledeneva’s books on the subject
Alexandr Bastrykin, head of Russia’s
influential Investigative Committee, is one of the most powerful individuals in
the Putinite power system, but his biography is relatively unknown. Richard Sakwa
has, however, been tracking the rise of this shadowy figure. 
THE CEELBAS DEBATE// Stavropol is the only one of seven North Caucasus territories with a majority Russian population. Andrew Foxall explores the
implications of interethnic conflict on this increasingly fraught political frontline.This week's guest editors
Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:
Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:
A Turkish Spring?
Woolwich - terror or conflict?
Palestinian borders
Nobel Women's Initiative
Europe from the bottom up
The media in Europe
Mali: the plot thickens
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Remote control war
oDRussia at journalismfestival .com
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Lis Howell On broadcasting
Dan Hancox Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Martin Rose Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
Vron Ware Up in Arms
Jim Gabour Sunday Comics
James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do
Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture
Paul Rogers on Global security
Mary Kaldor on Human security
