Western governments and investors have long indulged themselves by describing Central Asian states as “hybrid regimes” or “imperfect democracies”. The truth is that they are dictatorships occasionally “legitimising” themselves with highly engineered elections. Such electoral authoritarianism doesn
As a particularly harsh winter comes to a close, Alexander Valiyev reflects on recent developments in Chelyabinsk, West Siberia. While the authorities gained a lot, increasing their grip on the power vertical by canceling local elections, it was, as ever, the little man who came off worse...
On March 13, Russia holds elections in twelve Russian regions — the last elections ahead of critical parliamentary and presidential elections. Nikolai Petrov suggests the results will give a good indication of the Kremlin’s control over electoral machinery and ability to monopolise political power
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.
Putin and Berlusconi constructed their careers based on an idea of virility at a time when the concept seemed to many to be outdated. Augusto Come investigates the strategies both have employed, and finds a striking association with images from the fascist past.
As events in North Africa and the Middle East are daily displaying, America’s global influence is rapidly waning. This is an apt time to return to Brian Landers’ Empires Apart, a hugely impressive comparative study of the imperial imperatives of America and Russia: one which stimulates reflective
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 ‘
Many great statesmen have shaped the course of recent history: Churchill, de Gaulle, Thatcher, Kohl, Reagan, Havel and Wałęsa among them. But only one leader – Mikhail Gorbachev – determined the long-term history of the global order. Swept away by the wave he himself had unleashed, his life after
Next week the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev celebrates his 80th birthday. Archie Brown salutes twelve radical achievements that have changed Russia and the world for the better.
Whether in Russia or beyond, moves to rewrite awkward histories are always done with evil intent. When it is done in relation to genocide, it is doubly offensive. Andrei Konchalovsky reflects on last month's Holocaust Memorial Day
A diagnosis of autism is difficult for any family; in Russia, it can be shattering. With little hope of integrating into society, and a medical establishment unfit for purpose, a majority of autistic Russians are being condemned to a life in isolation. Dmitry Golubovsky and Svetlana Reiter present
