An Armenian Abroad: Adjusting to Life in St. Petersburg
Studying abroad in Russia as an Armenian American was eye-opening. I am a Russian Studies major that has always been interested in Russian culture and…
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Who’s Who in Ukrainian Politics
Ukrainian Politics: Major Issues and Personages (Updated) Nearly all of Ukraine’s political struggles can be understood as stemming from two major sources. The first is…
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…
Putin’s National Address on Pension Reform
Background: Pension reform has become a pressing issue in Russia. Russia currently has one of the world’s lowest retirement ages (55 for women and 60…
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 Present Is History: A Journey to Newly-Independent Kyrgyzstan
Eugene Huskey is one of America’s foremost experts on modern Kyrgyzstan. The following text recounts his first trip to Kyrgyzstan in June of 1992, just…
Recycling and Waste Recovery in Russia: Policy and Infrastructure Challenges
“Municipal solid waste,” or “MSW,” is the technical term given to “garbage consisting of everyday items used by the public.” Managing MSW is increasingly a…
Ecotourism in Siberia: Development and Challenges on Olkhon Island
Tourism in Russia today makes up approximately 16% of the nation’s economy; however, “ecotourism” comprises only about 1% of Russia’s tourism sector. Given that 65%…
The Clarity in Baikal’s Future: Municipal Water and Waste Systems in Irkutsk
Most Russian travel guides warn against drinking the tap water in Russia. Although most Russian cities now have municipal water systems, still, most travelers and…
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,…
The Nentsy in Russia’s Energy-Heavy Yamal Peninsula
Today, over 100 identified ethnic groups exist in Russia, 41 of which are legally recognized as “indigenous small numbered peoples.” While these groups make up…
Alexei Navalny
Alexei Navalny Modern Liberal Nationalism See also: Alexei Navalny: Mayoral Platform for 2013 (in English) Alexei Anatolievich Navalny is a lawyer, activist, and politician. He…
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,…
What is the Significance of the Russia Day Protests?
On June 12, heavily armed riot police arrested at least 1,720 people across Russia in the second nationwide anti-corruption protest since March. Although Moscow authorities…
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…
Trends in Cultural Education in Kyrgyzstan
The formation of any new state is a fascinating time, let alone the creation of a modern state that possesses an ancient history and rich…
Revolution, Civil War, and the Formation of Bolshevik Anti-Free Press Discourse, 1917-1922
Scholars of the Soviet Union have written at length about the consolidation of Soviet state control over the media, the establishment of Glavlit and other…
Sufi-Salafi Institutional Competition and Conflict in the Chechen Republic
The Russian North Caucasus is one of the most politically complex and turbulent areas in the world due to its plethora of ethnic, national, and…
“Healthy Body, Healthy Mind”: the visual propaganda of personal care during the Cultural Revolution in the Stalinist State
The picture of “Comrade Lenin Sweeps the World Clean of Filth” (below) is a perfect illustration of Soviets’ axiological orientations: they felt a moral duty…
“Medicine Standing on its Head”: Snezhnevsky, Sluggish Schizophrenia and Soviet Political Abuse of Psychiatry
In this essay, I analyze political abuses of psychiatry in the Soviet Union by exploring Andrei Snezhnevsky’s diagnosis of sluggish schizophrenia—a fictional branch of schizophrenia….