Georgia's leader-fixated politics lacks an institutional base and competing visions of the country's future. No wonder the gap between the rhetoric and reality of democracy is so sharp, finds Ilia Roubanis in Tbilisi.

 

Ksenya Semenova comes from Sakhalin Island, on Russia's far eastern coast. She is 23, has never been to the Russia mainland, and loves the island, with its exotic natural beauty. Wryly, she describes how ‘the crisis' is hitting them, why President Medvedev came to visit and why the islanders are cross with him.

Laura Piacentini is the first Western criminologist to undertake sustained research into Russia's contemporary penal system. From the fall of communism she spent 15 years among prisoners and prison personnel, interviewing more than 300. She reviews the main factors that have frustrated attempts to shake off the legacy of the Soviet penal system.

(This article was first published on 30 June 2009)

Human Rights Watch today publishes a report What Your Children Do Will Touch Upon You, a study of punitive house burning by the authorities in Chechnya.  In this summary Tanya Lokshina documents how family property is burnt down and lives destroyed in attempts to force alleged insurgents to surrender.

Moldova's byzantine politics needs disciplining. If the courts were bolder, they  could do it. But how to create an independent judiciary? Louis O'Neill has suggestions

The Kremlin's choice to hold the latest EU-Russia summit in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, right by China, may have been political - China wants Russia's gas too. But for the residents of Khabarovsk, the summit just meant traffic jams, and China's proximity just means industrial pollution

The final excerpt of openDemocracy Russia editor Susan Richards' book Lost and Found in Russia follows Natasha and Igor to Crimea. Seven years have passed since the author last saw them in Siberia.

The FinRosForum, formed to support Russians working for democracy and human rights, gives those engaged a rare chance to meet

Five years to the day after violent raids in Ingushetia ending with 79 deaths, there has been an attempt on the life of its current president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.  His bodyguard and driver died.  He is in intensive care.  Alexander Cherkasov, board member of the human rights organisation "Memorial", comments on recent events in the republic.

 

Summer brings a holiday air, and seasonal jobs, to the Volga city of Saratov, observes Olga Bakutina in this Letter from Russia. But the underlying economic problems remain, and the autumn promises to be hard

This second excerpt from Susan Richards' book Lost and Found in Russia follows the same characters, Natasha and Igor, to Siberia four years later, in 1997. What is it in Natasha's past that haunts her, pursuing her across Russia? A very odd clue emerges. 

Meet Susan Richards in conversation with author and scholar Anatol Lieven, Thursday 2 July, 7pm, The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell Green, London

30 places remaining. Please email julian.stern@opendemocracy.net to book a place.

 

Soviet films were weapons of propaganda, but the pressures on a new blockbuster film like Vladimir Bortko's Taras Bulba are rather more familiar from Hollywood, in Dmitri Travin's view

Although the price of oil is rising, the outlook for the Russian economy remains uncertain. Official statistics suggest that one in seven of the workforce could be unemployed by the end of the year, warns Andrei Zaostrovstev

The deep political tensions in Georgia have led to one of the country’s leading politicians, Nino Burdzhanadze, standing against the country’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili. She explains her thinking and appeals for engagement and understanding from the west. openDemocracy publishes the text as part of our longstanding and independent coverage of Georgia and the region.

 

 

Penal colonies are still holding thousands of prisoners in the Kirov Oblast, reports Ekaterina Lushnikova in this latest in our series of Letters from Russia

The first of three excerpts from a new book by openDemocracy Russia editor Susan Richards. Lost and Found in Russia tells the story of post-communist years through the lives of a group of idealistic young people in the heartland.

Meet Susan Richards in conversation with author and scholar Anatol Lieven, Thursday 2 July, 7pm, The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell Green, London

30 places remaining. Please email julian.stern@opendemocracy.net to book a place.

 

 

As human rights violations escalate in the North Caucasus, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch visits Dagestan, supposedly riven by the struggle between ‘Wahhabis' and the authorities. She visits the so-called ‘Wahhabi' village of Gudben. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Few believed that a second Khodorkovsky trial would actually happen, but it is. Maryana Torocheshnikova is sitting through the surreal twists and turns

Life may be hard and is often unfair, says our correspondent from Lipetsk, but people manage, in spite of the crisis and all the other problems.

Civil society is playing an impressive role in Georgia's present crisis, argues Tbilisi's last ambassador to Russia. Saakashvili's government has reached an impasse. There is a way forward, but Georgia will need the help of its friends abroad

Reviewing the roots of the roots of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, Alexander Goryanin concludes that Armenia's victory has cost it too much. A more lasting solution will take time

Pavel Bardin's film Russia 88, about Russian Nazis, has incurred official displeasure even before its release. Bardin says he wants to help government fight Russian fascism. Critics say the film's good. So what's the problem?The blogosphere is buzzing with answers

(Photo: Rossiya 88 film)

New book by openDemocracy Russia editor Susan Richards

‘A brilliant, poignant evocation of a society in transition.'  Robert Service

‘Sheds a uniquely intimate light behind the facade of the new Russia.'Colin Thubron

‘A uniquely personal chronicle, and a testament to friendship.' Victoria Glendinning

‘Tells us more about the lethal tides of recent Russian history than years of newspaper reports.'   Philip Marsden

 

 

Letters from Russia 

It is rare that we hear voices from cities in Russia other than Moscow and St. Petersburg. Much of the political and cultural  life of the country is indeed concentrated in those two urban centres. But that other Russia of the provinces, which Russians themselves call the ‘glubinka’, is a hugely significant factor  and not just because of its rich mineral resources. The very fact of its vastness is a determining factor on the country’s politics and culture. openDemocracy Russia and our patner Russian site www.polit.ru will be running a regular series of letters to the outside world from regional journalists, from Sakhalin in the east to Kaliningrad in the west. We have asked our authors to focus on the daily life of their neighbours, friends and colleagues, to tell us how they are feeling during this global crisis. We want to hear about their concerns and priorities. We want to share their dreams. We will hear how people are coping with hardships of daily life; how their lives are affected by corruption, how they feel about their government and the future of their country.

Let us start in the Western Urals city of Izhevsk…

Editors of openDemocracy Russia, Editor of polit.ru

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How do people spend a sunny public May holiday in the provincial city of Izhevsk ? Nadezhda Gladysh sets out with her collie dog Greg    to find out

The protest that greeted Moldova's recent election represented domestic frustrations, not an abortive colour revolution. Addressing Moldova's deep-seated problems of poverty, criminality and national identity will require constructive input from Western powers

Russia has banned the hunting of baby harp seals. The victory follows a personal crusade by International Fund for Animal Welfare's Maria Vorontsova.

Armenia and Azerbaijan's dispute over Nagorno Karabakh could erupt in war at any time, warns Wayne Merry. This would be disastrous for both parties. To prevent war will require Washington and Moscow work together

The present regime has crowned Russia's victory World War II as the defining event of the age. Now Russia finds herself in a war of memories with other post-Soviet states

Europe should not be deceived by recent concessions to the media, comments Irada Huseinova. Lukashenko's Belarus will remain a bastion of totalitarianism

The very survival of a troubled polity may depend on finding a constructive way around the bitter tensions between Mikheil Saakashvili’s government and a fractured opposition, says Robert Parsons in Tbilisi.