United Russia: A House Divided
United Russia is the powerhouse of Russian politics. At its base is the influence of the paternal Vladimir Putin, two-time President and one-time Prime Minister,…
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Choose or Lose: The Best Campaign Videos in Russian Politics
Editorial note: the following resource first appeared in Russian in Bolshoi Gorod, an independent, Moscow-based Russian-language newspaper that provides considerable coverage of political issues, social…
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…
Vladimir Putin: Presidential Platform, 2012
President Dmitry Medvedev officially nominated Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the 2011 United Russia convention to replace him as president. In explaining why Putin was…
Russian MiniLessons: Землетрясения и российской помощи – Earthquakes and Russian Foreign Aid
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal…
The Moscow Protest: My Experience
Moscow is very cold in the winter. There isn’t a lot that would motivate a large crowd of people to stand outside in the freezing snow and…
Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov’s Speech in Vladivostok
While I wasn’t able to sit down with my family for a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal, I was treated to a certain Thanksgiving Day surprise. …
Recurring Themes in the Kyrgyz Revolutions
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan became an independent nation. Its independence, however, was not the result of a struggle for self-governance by…
LDPR: Anti-Crisis Platform
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), it is often said, is neither liberal nor particularly democratic. They advocate nationalizing most of Russia’s major industries…
Yabloko: A New Political Course
Most western observers put substantial hope in Yabloko during the 1990s. Yabloko was an early, strongly pro-West, pro-democracy party that also strongly opposed Yeltsin’s administration….
A Just Russia: Manifesto for 2011
A Just Russia was formed in 2006 from a merger between three parties. The first, a nationalist party called “Rodina” (Fatherland) had won 9% of…
The Communist Platform and View of Post-Soviet History
Have you ever wondered how a Communist might write the history of the fall of the Soviet Union? While history is usually written by the…
How to Become a Communist
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) is generally acknowledged as being the successor of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which…
Parnas: The People’s Freedom Party
The People’s Freedom Party, also known as “Parnas,” was founded on September 16, 2010. It is a coalition of four organizations: Russian People’s Democratic Union;…
Nashi: Russian Youth Movement
Nashi is by far Russia’s best-known political youth movement. Founded in 2005 shortly after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the group is against “those who…
Declaration Of The Formation Of The All-Russia People’s Front
Vladimir Putin announced the creation of an “All-Russia People’s Front” at a regional congress of the United Russia party in Volgograd on Friday, May 6,…
United Russia: Election Program, 2011
The following is the pre-election program published by United Russia in preparation for the 2011 Duma elections. While most political parties use the term “Political…
Environmental Policy and Politics of Lake Baikal: A review of physical, psychological, and political contexts
Lake Baikal in Siberia has a rich biological and cultural history. It is highly valued for its aesthetic qualities and rich biological diversity. In addition,…
United Russia: Ruling Party (Part III)
(Continued from Part II) United Russia came under fire after the October 2009 regional elections. Despite the sluggish economy and an uptick in public protests…
United Russia: Ruling Party (Part II)
(Continued from Part I) After this, many independents flocked to join the party over the next year, despite Unity having no concrete policy agenda besides…