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Based on both archival work and oral history, the growing research on the 1960-80s development policies in the Soviet periphery offers a more nuanced picture of how the Communist regime managed its population's expectations and needs.

The emergence of permanent history parks in Russia can be compared to the advent of Institutes of National Memory that operate in a number of former Soviet and Central European states. They are an element of the politics of history. What they seek to present is a vision of history drawing exclusively on multimedia technologies—one that does not use any real objects of the past. The vision of history they present is highly politically engaged.

Maria Lipman speaks with Evgeny Gontmacher about the political and socioeconomic implications of raising the retirement age. Since 2012, Gontmacher is the deputy director responsible for social policy projects and recommendations at Aleksei Kudrin’s Committee of Civil Initiatives. Over 1992-2003, he held positions as Head of Department at the Russian Ministry of Labor, Deputy Chair at the Presidential Council for Social Policy, and Head of Department at the Russian Government Administration.

A century ago, on July 16-17, 1918, the Bolsheviks executed the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. How is this event being commemorated in today’s Russia?