Combining a patriotic appeal with new technology and Obama-style presentation, Alexei Navalny has emerged as the unifying figure for anti-government sentiment in Russia. His imaginative campaigning is unlikely to land him in the Kremlin, but it has transformed the country’s political landscape for
Bordering Kazakhstan, Orenburg is a first destination for migrant workers from post-Soviet Central Asia. In her latest letter from the Russian Provinces, Elena Strelnikova considers the pluses and minuses of the visitors and how they integrate — or not — into the local society
Post-Soviet Georgia is no stranger to drama or revolution, and after a short interregnum, the country once again finds itself in a febrile mood. Sergei Markedonov analyses the background to the present unrest.
Prime Minister Putin’s attempts to shore up his falling popularity ratings have now extended to setting up a new electoral platform. But this is not just any old platform, laments Dmitri Oreshkin. It’s another return to old methods and old labels, and bodes no good for Russia.
Christians, Jews and Muslims have lived side by side for generations in Tatarstan. The Soviet period cut a swathe through early 20th century cultural and spiritual developments like Jadidism, but this peaceful form of Islam has since re-emerged. It is more necessary than ever in the current age of
Russia has taken seventeen years of WTO negotiations to get to a stage that most candidate countries reach after six. Now, with the country finally on the verge of joining, there is no sign of any consensus at the top, write Rihards Kols and Nicolae Geaman.
Arguments over the benefits of opiate substitution therapy versus abstinence as the most successful way of dealing with drug addiction are not confined to one country. But in Russia the attitudes of both professionals and society to addiction are harsh and uncompromising, as well as an infringemen
In an interview with journalist Olena Tregub, political scientist Andreas Umland argues that Ukrainian integration into the European mainstream is of crucial importance, both for Ukraine and the EU. In his view, alignment with Europe should become Ukraine’s top priority.
Igor Kon, one of Russia’s leading intellectuals and one of the founding fathers of Soviet sociology, has died aged 82. He was a veritable polymath whose interests ranged from history to sexology, a branch of science he set up in Russia, often in the teeth of considerable harassment and opposition.
Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe, but something very strange is going on in the grain market, writes Anna Babinets. A hitherto unknown company with dubious connections has been appointed state trading agent, the farmers and traders are being badly hit, and there is no prospect of clar
Ukrainian identity has historically been defined in opposition to Russia, but an anti-Russian agenda is unable to bind together a state with a large ethnic Russian population. With the Yanukovych administration now taking a neo-Stalinist approach to history and education, airbrushing out nationali
