Artificial Intelligence in Russia
Artificial intelligence has been rising in practical uses for the past several decades. From smart devices to automated weapons, it has changed the way humans…
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A Traveler’s Guide to Russian Banks
Many traveler’s handbooks, in the 1990s and even into the 2000s, warned foreigners to be wary of ATMs in Russia. A lot has changed since…
Renting in Russia: Language, Legalities, and Culture
The word for “landlord” in Russian is actually the same as the word for “host” – . Renting in Russia, whether apartments or rooms, comes…
Moscow’s Reopening and COVID Response: A View from the Ground
As of Tuesday, June 23rd, after nearly three months of quarantine measures, Moscow has reopened. The city was able to mobilize phenomenal resources and put…
Russian Roads and Rails
Transportation infrastructure is crucial to the economy of any country. At its most elemental level, an economy is a network of goods and services moving…
Grocery Shopping in Russia: 1917 – Present
In the past century, Russia has experienced different economic systems and many societal changes. One industry that reflects this, perhaps more than any other, is…
How the 2014 Economic Crisis Changed Russia’s Economy
Just about everyone in the United States knows something about the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. That particular crisis started in the U.S. housing and…
Russia’s Second De-Urbanization
The following originally appeared in Russian on Lenta.ru. The original text can be viewed, in full, here. Translation below is provided by Lindsey Greytak, a…
The Evolution and Dissolution of the Soviet Kitchen
Just as the leadership, citizens, and politics of the USSR changed drastically between 1917 and 1991, so too the Soviet kitchen underwent innumerable changes from…
7 Facts about the April, 1991 Economic Crisis
The following text was written by Aleksei Rudevich and originally appeared in Russian on the website “Russian 7.” To read the original Russian, click here….
Ukraine Update in 7 Sentences
The following is a list of seven general points to be aware of as the Ukraine / Crimea Crisis continues to develop. This resource has…
Agriculture as the Basis of a New Russia
An Open Letter to the Authorities Boris Akimov is a man of all trades. Until 2010 he worked as a journalist for Afisha and Snob,…
The Varieties of Capitalism Dichotomy (and Beyond) in Post-Communist States
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 gave rise to fifteen independent states, as well as a challenge for those who study national political…
Mikhail Prokhorov: A Real Future
Mikhail Prokhorov was the only applicant out of a dozen to successfully register as an independent presidential candidate for the 2012 Russian presidential elections. Most…
Talent Development and Economic Growth in Russia
2007 is an exciting time to be involved in Russian business. The ruble has become increasingly more valuable and stable, and the government has emphasized…
The Medvedev Economy
The Russian economy is due for a major shift. Much of the rapid growth from the past eight years has come from something called “unused…
From the Silk Road to Chevron: The Geopolitics of Oil Pipelines in Central Asia
Kazakhstan has received much press recently as a result of the success of the comic film Borat. However, that movie got everything wrong in its depiction…
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…
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…
Snapshot of the Russian Economy
The Soviet economy developed under Communist ideals for some seventy-five years. These ideals kept that development focused on what had been the centerpieces of 19th…