Polit.Ru
Launched in 1998, this Moscow-based website publishes political news and commentary daily, as well as keeping close to the pulse of Russia’s intellectual life. Through its public lectures and seminars in Moscow and Kiev it offers a regular platform for debate on contemporary issues. Polit.ru, whose articles are outstanding among Russian internet sites for their quality, hosts Russian social thinkers, historians, philosophers, NGO activists, journalists, and economists.
Friday 11th November
Russia’s 9 time zones are often exploited by TV management to pull controversial programmes, but the internet has changed the rules of the game. A recent film about kidnap victims in Chechnya was shown in the Far East, but not in European Russia. The ensuing outcry and internet activity show that people have had enough of censorship, says Tanya Lokshina Monday 7th November
Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Communist Party is enjoying a mini-revival as a channel for popular discontent with the government. But its leadership is too rooted in the past and concerned with retaining control of the party to exploit this advantage, says Vladimir Gelman Tuesday 31st May
In 2010, the Russian military experienced acute delays with procurement. The official response to the affair was outlined last month: three officers were to be sacked and several company directors punished. Basic research shows the government's position to be nothing more than a smoke screen, writes Alexander Volk. Monday 30th May
Post-Soviet Georgia is no stranger to drama or revolution, and after a short interregnum, the country once again finds itself in a febrile mood. Sergei Markedonov analyses the background to the present unrest. Wednesday 4th May
Russian intellectual Igor Kon has died aged 82. Here we present one of his final essays, first published on our partner website, www.polit.ru. Reflecting on the woes of Russian history, Kon displays trademark wit and moral argument. Tuesday 22nd March
Independently-minded specialists carrying out research into the seamier side of Russian right-wing nationalist extremism are few and far between. The death of Galina Kozhevnikova at a young age is thus a veritable tragedy, laments Andreas Umland. Monday 7th March
As new mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin inherited a hugely wealthy city and a mass of problems. Putin’s vertical of power is collapsing and there are elections ahead. How will Sobyanin manage the inevitable political infighting, wonders Vladimir Pastukhov.Wednesday 2nd March
The southern republic of Dagestan is now Russia’s most violent flashpoint. Besieged by militants from one side, the republic is no better served by its security services on the other. Indeed, the brutality and lawlessness of these government forces actually risks motivating yet more young men to ‘go to the forest’ and join the fighters.Wednesday 23rd February
Modernisation is a task, not a problem. Russians must first want a modern country if it is to ever emerge. Alexander Auzan, one of Russia's foremost experts on modernisation, outlines the difficulties going forward. Saturday 19th February
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Boris Yeltsin inherited many problems which he had to try and address while at the same time establishing the new Russian state. Many of these problems were, and continue to be, in the North Caucasus. Yeltsin’s presidency should be judged in the round, asserts Sergei Markedonov, rather than from the vantage point of Putin’s ‘vertical’ Russia.Monday 3rd January
Ukrainian politics has until recently been divided between two camps: the pro-Western democrats (recently represented by the "Orange" parties) and the pro-Russian anti-liberals (recently dominated by the Party of Regions). Now radical nationalists are gaining political strength. Will they manage to get their so-called Freedom party into the national parliament? Andreas Umland charts the rise of the right-wing All-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda".Wednesday 15th December
The Okhta Centre protestors have achieved the relocation of the project to another part of St Petersburg. But it will be built, as will the much protested motorway through Khimki Forest, maintains Mikhail Zakharov. Protest movements are facing the serious possibility of running out of steam. Wednesday 1st December
Sunday 14th November
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What do you need to succeed in business?A mixture of luck and good judgement, according to Mikhail Fridman, one of Russia’s richest men and currently head of the Alfa Group.Gorbachev’s 1980s reforms made private enterprise possible – Fridman and others like him did the rest, as can be seen from this transcript of his lecture at the Publishers’ Forum in Lvov.Monday 8th November
Monday 1st November
Thursday 14th October
Government attempts to modernise Russia are doomed because the Russian mindset remains stuck in an unchanging peasant mentality, laments film-director Andrei Konchalovsky. No change will be possible without reloading our spiritual software, but do we want to change?Tuesday 5th October
Monday 27th September
Tuesday 21st September
