President Medvedev recently sacked the longstanding Moscow mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, despite his closeness to Putin. This move, redolent of Soviet politics, won him no points and now the activities of the new mayor are threatening to affect Putin too. Regular changes of government are essential, explai
Kazakhstan’s 2010 chairmanship of the OSCE has not passed without controversy. Reforms promised at the beginning of the year never happened, press harassment continues and things could get worse when Kazakhstan is no longer in the glare of international scrutiny, laments Ryan Gallagher
Is the December presidential election going to be more of the same? Lukashenka has been president for 16 years, but this time he is playing at democracy. Could his game get the better of him? Olga Birukova fears probably not, but a recent survey might be cause for hope.
On Thursday evening, prominent TV journalist Leonid Parfyonov broke with the etiquette of live award ceremonies, and made an unannounced and sensational attack on the state of Russian journalism. Russian TV bosses have become slaves to government bureaucrats, he said, and in so doing are complicit
10 years ago former tennis prodigy Viktor Potemkin (not his real name) decided to come off heroin and leave the criminal world. He did this using the detox approach. Now he teaches, and trains future tennis stars. He talked to Mumin Shakirov.
On Sunday, Moldova goes to the polling booths for the fourth time in nineteen months. Despite the best efforts of leading politicians to emphasize a multi-vectored foreign policy, most Moldovans still see the election as a straight choice between the EU and Russia. Alexa Chopivsky interviews Prime
Was the Crimean War really a crusade or was it motivated more by Russia’s need to have access to the Black Sea? Dominic Lieven reviews Orlando Figes’ new history of the conflict.
Charming old buildings in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, often listed, are being pulled down and the city disfigured. International organisations are pouring grants and loans into rebuilding projects, but there is little accountability and no building control, laments George Nonidze.
Last Thursday, Pavel Stroilov presented a piece that alleged I had been paid to publish articles in the Independent, and that I published on the instructions of its owner. Nothing could be further from the truth, writes Mary Dejevsky.
This weekend world leaders are assembling in Lisbon to discuss a new NATO security concept for Europe. Yet in focusing on external threats, the alliance is likely to ignore significant back-yard tensions. The continent would be wise to look elsewhere to ensure its long-term security, writes Jana K
Tolstoy died on 20 November 1910, but official Russian celebrations of the centenary have been muted. Rosamund Bartlett asks why. Could it be that the Soviet ‘taming’ of Tolstoy still informs attitudes to him today and might the Orthodox Church have something to do with it too?
What else could possibly be written about Tolstoy? Before reading Rosamund Bartlett’s new biography, Susan Richards did wonder. But the fall of Soviet power has revealed material which allows us to appreciate how vividly his legacy has lived on and how relevant it remains today
