Blind in Siberia
“Relax every muscle right now, or you’ll break some bones!” The voice inmy head bounced through my body as I started sliding down the two…
Russia
Russian and Jewish Identity
Extract from: 2006 JPPPI Annual Assessment (download the full report on world Jewry) According to various estimates, between 60 and 63 percent of Jews of…
Military Learning Between the Chechen Wars
The downward spiral of the Russian military that began with Afghanistan is often compared to the U.S. army’s experience in Vietnam. However, unlike the American…
US-Russian Energy Security in the Caucasus: The Prospects for Conflict in the National Interest
It has taken energy (namely coal and oil) to produce the industrialized and economically prosperous nations of today. That is certain to change in the…
Russian Political Culture Since 1985
The traditional view of Russian political culture has been that, due to historical experience, Russians have favored strong autocratic rule. After nearly seventy years of…
Personal Reflections on Russian Offshore Outsourcing
Three of my four grandparents emigrated from Minsk to New York City more than 100 years ago. So I guess that I was destined to…
Life with Aids in Rural Russia: A Photo Essay
On 1 December 2005, life took a dramatic turn for 25-year-old, HIV-positive Svetlana Izambaeva. Svetlana, who lives in the small Russian city of Cheboksari, was…
Russia Day Evolves
Russia Day is one of the country’s newest holidays and many are still at a loss as to how it should be celebrated. However, the…
The Growth of Russia’s IT Outsourcing Industry: The Beginning of Russian Economic Diversification?
Summary of a speech given by Daniel Satinsky, B.E.A Associates The information technology (IT) outsourcing industry in Russia is one of the few non-natural resource…
Deconstructing the Millennium Manifesto: The Yeltsin-Putin Transition and the Rebirth of Ideology
1. Introduction: The Dearth of Ideology On the 12th July 1996, following a closely fought election victory, Boris Yeltsin called his advisors to him. ‘In…