The Power of Soft Power in Kazakhstan
(Monkey Cage/WP) Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on April 26, 2015. Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev was easily reelected with more than 97 percent of the votes. The majority of the…
Political Deadlock over Nuclear Disarmament
(RIAC) The Ninth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has opened in New York. Representatives of NPT member nations meet once…
Gazprom Must Compromise on EU Charges, but Putin Cannot
(EDM) The European Commission delivered, on April 22, a “statement of objections” resulting from its probe launched back in September 2012, which amounts to charging Gazprom with abusing its dominant position…
Mastering a Façade democracy: elections in Uzbekistan
(EUCAM) President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan has been re-elected after scoring 90 per cent of votes at the Uzbek general elections held on 29 March 2015. According to official estimates,…
Moscow Conference on International Security 2015 Part 1: The plenary speeches
Last week, I was once again in attendance at the Russian MOD's Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS). As I did last year, over the next couple of weeks I'll…
Челноки и власть: что стало с приграничными районами России после эмбарго
От продовольственного эмбарго 2014 года особенно пострадали граничащие с ЕС регионы — Карелия, Мурманская, Псковская, Калининградская области, Санкт-Петербург. Как предприниматели приспосабливались к этим антисанкциям? Розничные хитрости В августе 2014 года Россия…
The Faltering Russian Economy Makes a Renewed Ukraine Offensive More Likely
(EDM) “Boring” is perhaps the prevalent impression of President Vladimir Putin’s televised four-hour-long Q & A session that aired last Thursday (April 16), which was meant to demonstrate his good health…
A Vision for Shared Prosperity in Central Asia
(CSIS) (Co-authored with Aitolkyn Kourmanova) The Obama administration recently completed a review of its policy towards Central Asia and has rolled out the main pillars of the United States’ “Enduring Vision for…
Iranian Deal Leaves Russia in Deeper Isolation
(EDM) Moscow tried its best to present the hard-negotiated deal in Lausanne, Switzerland, on curtailing and controlling the Iranian nuclear program as a success of its firm diplomatic position for a…
How new is Putin’s ‘atmosphere of hate’?
(The Monkey Cage/WP) In the wake of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov’s murder, many blamed an “atmosphere of hate” cultivated by the Kremlin. This idea suggests that the Krelim has encouraged the demonization…
Право на оттенки
Интересно читать про российскую экономику. У Сергея Журавлева много правильных цифр – запись сделана в связи с уточненными данными по росту ВВП в 2014 году, но, в который раз, трудно…
Собчак против Ленсовета: региональный авторитаризм и его конкуренты
Ровно 25 лет назад начала свою работу первая сессия демократически избранного Ленинградского городского совета двадцать первого созыва (последнего в его истории – совет был распущен по указу Ельцина в 1993…