Chechen-Ingush Land Dispute: A Policy Primer
Major protests were triggered in Ingushetia’s capital city by a recent land swap between Chechnya and Ingushetia. On September 26, 2018, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov…
Read MorePolicy
Policy is a state’s plan to achieve a specific goal. The following articles discuss policy trajectories or outcomes. This includes diplomatic, economic, or security policies as well the theories that guide such policies. GeoHistory is particularly interested in investigating policy affecting demographics and infrastructure.
Maxim Oreshkin: Young Technocrat and Minister of Economic Development
Maxim Stanislavovich Oreshkin is a Russian economist and former investment banker now serving as Minister of Economic Development for the Russian Federation. At just 36…
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 Cultural Diplomacy of the FIFA World Cup
Sports has long been a vehicle for cultural diplomacy. This summer, Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Early June brought a plethora of foreign…
Russia’s Arctic Development: Problems and Priorities
What climate change and arctic development means for Russia, the environment, and the international community. The Arctic region is a vast area whose economic potential,…
What Do The Escalations in US-Russian Sanctions Mean?
The US Congress has recently passed sweeping new sanctions on Russia. Today, they were signed into law by President Trump. Both the sanctions and Russia’s…
Are Tensions Likely for the Russian Diaspora in Kyrgyzstan?
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the post –Soviet region has faced a number of challenges including widespread diasporas, fluid national identities,…
Elvira Nabiullina
Elvira Nabiullina and Saving Russia’s Financial System Elvira Nabiullina is currently ranked the most powerful woman in Russia and has been named one of the…
Could the Baltic Crisis Lead to Wider Conflict?
Recent years have seen a hardening of relations between the United States/NATO and Russia. Russian actions in Ukraine—especially the…
Vostochny Cosmodrome: Liability or Asset?
Is Russia’s new launch site a long term liability or a strategic asset? April 28 marked the first successful rocket launch from Russia’s new cosmodrome…
Four Reformers in Russia’s Shock Therapy
In the wake of the 1990’s, the future of nascent post-Soviet Russia was in the hands of four groups of reformers, who were entrusted with…
Understanding Russia’s Interests in North Korea
The first few months of 2016 have seen important developments for the long term stability of Russia’s far eastern neighbors. North Korea is at the…
Why is Russia in Syria?
To say that Syria is in the news a lot right now would be a gross understatement. The whole world’s foreign policy seems to be…
The Allies in Siberia During the Russian Revolution
Despite its distance from the hotbed of Russian revolutionary violence, the city of Vladivostok and the Russian Far East experienced their own challenges and intrigue…
Nuclear War: How the United States and the Soviet Union Fought Over Information in Chernobyl’s Aftermath
April 26, 1986 began like any other day for the Soviet citizens of Pripyat, a little-known city of 50,000 in the Ukrainian SSR. At the…
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…
Cultivating Corn, Culture, and Curiosities: American Perspectives on the 1955 U.S.-Soviet Agricultural Exchange
Former New York Times correspondent Harrison E. Salisbury worked in the Soviet Union from 1949 until 1953 and covered the 1955 U.S.-Soviet Agricultural Exchange, in which twelve…
Kyrgyzstan Prepares to Join the Eurasian Economic Union, Amid Concerns and Questions about the Future
In the two decades since its independence from the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan has maintained close ties with Russia, on which it remains economically dependent, while…
Russia’s Current Economic Conundrum: 2014-2015 Economic Crisis
A large part of Russian society, particularly its political elite, still cherishes the great dream of Russia as a powerful and economically strong global player….
