Recent protest rallies and continuing opposition sentiment have provoked the Kremlin into reform. The first part of the process sees the partial return of regional governor elections, abandoned nine years ago in favour of appointment by the president. Democractic Russia should be very wary of the changes, thinks Grigorii Golosov
With his regime
running out of steam, Vladimir Putin is resorting to the rhetoric of the past
and traditional values. Marie Mendras
sees little future in it. 
With
Aleksei Navalny on trial and other opposition leaders under threat, Vladimir
Putin is relying more on the stick than the carrot to shore up his regime.
Kirill Rogov points out the risks of this policy. 
There are few new ideas driving the Putin
regime forward. If the Kremlin has an ideology, it is a deeply conservative and miltaristic one, with no goals, vision or future.
After being sidelined since December 2011, the Kremlin's once-mighty propagandist Vladislav Surkov was today 
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.
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? 
In a few months, the
EU will decide whether to sign an Association Agreement with Ukraine. President
Viktor Yanukovych is, however, focused on a different agenda - how to win a second term in
2015. He's ready to go to any lengths to bring that about, reports Sergii Leshchenko. 
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
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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