Part of the openDemocracy Network

Amazon Store


Navigation

Georgia's pluralistic feudalism

Ilia Roubanis , 3 - 07 - 2009

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.

Read this article...

Sakhalin, the Island of Cyclones and Abundant Snow

Ksenya Semenova, 3 - 07 - 2009

Sakhalin scenery

 

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.

Read this article...

Russia's penal landscape

Laura Piacentini, 2 - 07 - 2009

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)

Read this article...

Chechnya: the torchings

Tanya Lokshina, 2 - 07 - 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.

Read this article...

Stiffening Moldova's judiciary

Louis O’Neill, 29 - 06 - 2009
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

Read this article...

Far East is still far away

Alexei Minin, 26 - 06 - 2009

Khabarovsk panorama

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

Read this article...

Journey to Crimea

Susan Richards, 25 - 06 - 2009
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.

Read this article...

Champions of human rights

Jeremy Bird, 23 - 06 - 2009
The FinRosForum, formed to support Russians working for democracy and human rights, gives those engaged a rare chance to meet

Read this article...

Five years to the day: violence in Ingushetia

Alexander Cherkasov, 22 - 06 - 2009
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.

Read this article...

Summer in Saratov

Olga Bakutkina, 19 - 06 - 2009

Saratov Center 

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

Read this article...

Lost and found in Russia (II)

Susan Richards, 18 - 06 - 2009

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.

 

Read this article...

Propaganda or good business?

Dmitri Travin, 16 - 06 - 2009

Taras Bulba film 1

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

Read this article...

Russia's economic crisis today

Andrei Zaostrovtsev, 16 - 06 - 2009

100 roubles

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

Read this article...

Tbilisi appeal: open letter to the west

Nino Burdzhanadze, 12 - 06 - 2009

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.

 

Read this article...

Russia: the Vyatlag archipelago

Ekaterina Lushnikova, 11 - 06 - 2009

Vyatka colony cell 

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

Read this article...

Lost and found in Russia (I)

Susan Richards, 10 - 06 - 2009

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.

 

 

Read this article...

‘Wahhabi’ village in Dagestan

Tanya Lokshina, 9 - 06 - 2009
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. 

Read this article...

Khodorkovsky on trial - again

Maryana Torocheshnikova, 8 - 06 - 2009

Khodorkovski-courtroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Read this article...

Letter from Lipetsk

Oksana Zagrebnyeva , 5 - 06 - 2009

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.

Lipetsk-Industrial zone

Read this article...

Mikhail Saakashvili – etymology of a crisis

Erosi Kitsmarishvili, 4 - 06 - 2009

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

Read this article...

Unlocking the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Alexander Goryanin, 3 - 06 - 2009
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

Read this article...

Russian anti-Nazi film v Kremlin bulldogs

Mumin Shakirov, 2 - 06 - 2009

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

Rossiya 88 film

(Photo: Rossiya 88 film)

Read this article...

Lost and Found in Russia - by Susan Richards

openDemocracy, 1 - 06 - 2009

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

 

 

Read this article...

Letters from the Russian periphery

Nadezhda Gladysh, 29 - 05 - 2009

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

-------------------------------------------

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

Read this article...

Moldova: the Twitter Revolution that wasn’t

William H. Hill and David J. Kramer, 28 - 05 - 2009
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

Read this article...

Saving baby seals: one woman’s crusade

Mumin Shakirov, 26 - 05 - 2009

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

Read this article...

Karabakh: is war inevitable?

Wayne Merry, 22 - 05 - 2009
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

Read this article...

Russia's history wars

Boris Dolgin, 22 - 05 - 2009
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

Read this article...

Lukashenko plays with Europe

Irada Huseinova, 20 - 05 - 2009
Europe should not be deceived by recent concessions to the media, comments Irada Huseinova. Lukashenko's Belarus will remain a bastion of totalitarianism

Read this article...

Georgia on the brink - again

Robert Parsons, 20 - 05 - 2009

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.

Read this article...

Syndicate content

New book by Susan Richards

Russia Links

What next?

The Convention on Modern Liberty, in London and across the UK attracted more than 1000 people. Find out what happened and what comes next...

Join the Russia Mailing list

Enter your name
Please enter email address to join our mailing list & become a member of openDemocracy