However much the regime might try to plot a new political trajectory, its only success is in
intensifying a feeling of drift and improvisation. Unforced errors are
typical for the end of authoritarian regimes, says Daniel Treisman, so the
Kremlin should be extremely careful.
After being sidelined since December 2011, the Kremlin's once-mighty propagandist Vladislav Surkov was today 
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
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.
THE CEELBAS DEBATE // How far does the current clash between the opposition and authorities reflect Russia's history of dissidence? Tom Rowley considers the importance of the similarities and differences. 
Reports from Moscow of door-to-door passport checks and a proposed new bill criminalising registration infringements are rekindling uncomfortable memories of the Soviet past. Mikhail Loginov reflects on the history. 
Last year two student sisters appearing on a Russian TV quiz show gained instant notoriety when asked to define the word ‘Holocaust’. A trip to Auschwitz with journalist Mumin Shakirov dispelled their ignorance, but, as he reflects, it was hardly surprising, given the subject is so rarely mentioned in Russia today._01.jpg)
A new
Russian law banning US adoptions has been roundly criticised at home and
abroad; a toddler’s unexplained death has been held up as justification. For Daniil
Kotsyubinsky, it is all a case of history repeating: Russia’s past is full of
tragic cases where children have become innocent victims.
The forced resignation of Duma deputies accused of owning property they had not declared shows Vladimir Putin trying, in the same way as his illustrious forebear Josef Stalin, to purge the ranks. But you can’t set a thief to catch a thief, says Andrei Piontkovsky
Police custody, violence, trials and imprisonment have been all to common features on the Russian protest landscape since December 2011. A grassroots monitoring
Many aging Russian
WWII veterans live in appalling conditions, and some die before they can cash a
government rehousing grant. By law, families should inherit the money, but some
regions deny them it. In Sergei Gogin’s native Ulyanovsk, authorities seem to
prefer spending the money on vanity projects abroad.
Russia-China
The new year in Russia
Russia's new economy
Russian rights at the crossroads
Beyond the gastarbeiter: post-Soviet migration
Madeleine Reeves (Manchester University, UK) presents the other side of post-Soviet migration.
Regions
Russia's year of elections
Women, tradition and power in the North Caucasus
Project_ID
Privatizatsiya, twenty years on
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
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