Jun 23, 2012

Negotiating with Russia

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Los Cabos, Mexico, prior to the Group of 20 summit and they agreed to “reactivate” talks on the long-standing territorial dispute over the Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands ...

May 12, 2012

The return of President Putin

After serving as prime minister for four years, Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency Monday to begin his third term, as outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev was appointed prime minister for the second time, thus continuing their governing partnership. Mr. Putin served as president ...

Mar 30, 2012

Russia's civil society is key

by Andrey Borodaevskiy

The future of democracy in Russia will depend on the correct relationship between “people” and “power” — the two major elements constituting any society. In a normal democratic society, political parties serve as focal points of public opinion, crystallizing different approaches and policies in ...

Mar 21, 2012

Nearing the end of tyranny?

by Hugh Cortazzi

President Vladimir Putin in Russia, President Bashar Assad in Syria and President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe are detested by many of their fellow countrymen who would like to see them overthrown and tried for human rights abuses. They depend on a close coterie of ...

Mar 7, 2012

Third term for Mr. Putin

He did it again. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another presidential election. While the outcome was no surprise, neither was the controversy that greeted his victory. Despite Mr. Putin’s claim that he won “an open and honest fight,” the opposition has charged that ...

Mar 2, 2012

Sure winner fails to inspire

by Andrey Borodaevskiy

Before the scandalous presidential election of 1996, the situation was clear-cut and critical. A victory by Gennady Zyuganov over Boris Yeltsin would have meant an old-style Communists’ revenge for their defeat in the August 1991 putsch as well as a strong drive toward renationalization ...

Feb 24, 2012

An alternative to Putin's way

by Andrey Borodaevskiy

A “frosty Saturday” Feb. 4 confirmed the deadlocked nature of the situation that has ripened in Russia for more than a decade of Vladimir Putin’s rule (as president and senior partner in the infamous “tandem”). The elections March 4 unequivocally mean a dozen more ...

Feb 16, 2012

Snow Revolution's orange shadow

by Anders Aslund

Vladimir Putin’s regime is warning Russians that their budding “Snow Revolution” will be as big a mistake as Ukraine’s Orange Revolution of 2004. But, while the similarities between these two popular movements are palpable, their differences are essential, so comparing them might help the ...