Security Forces Sweep Bishkek Clean
Bishkek entered its ninth straight day of protests on April 19 with the promise by opposition leaders to dramatically increase the number of demonstrators in…
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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…
Languages in Conflict: The Case of Russia and Estonia
On a park bench in Moscow, I befriended a lively group of young actors from Tallinn, Estonia. They had come to Russia three years earlier…
Kyrgyzstan’s Latest Revolution
The March 2005 overthrow of President Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan did not immediately revolutionize Kyrgyz politics. The Kyrgyz people initially heralded their “Tulip Revolution,” but…
From Vixen to Victim: The Sensationalization and Normalization of Prostitution in Post-Soviet Russia
Since the height of its popularity in the mid-1990s, the Moscow nightclub “Golodnaya Utka,” or “The Hungry Duck,” has been dubbed “Moscow’s first rape camp.”[1]…
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…
Georgia’s Young Ministers and Younger Democracy
When discussing Georgia, most Americans (if they realize you are not talking about Atlanta) will laud the democratic achievements of that former soviet republic. 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…
Russian Bill on NGOs to Become Law
Moscow – President Vladimir Putin, responding to the international public outcry surrounding Russia’s proposed law on NGOs, issued an executive opinion on the bill that,…
Disillusionment on the Grandest of Scales: Finnish-Americans in the Soviet Union, 1917-1939
From the time of the Russian Revolution onward, the Bolsheviks were often portrayed in mainstream American media as the “enemy.”[1] Many Americans, however, chose to…
The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia
The history of Russia has always been a relatively sad and tumultuous one wrought with wars, power struggles, and abrupt changes. These changes have often…
The Impending Price of Ignorance: Demographic Politics of Sexual Education in Russia in Post-Soviet Russia
In the context of escalating international speculation as to the determining factors behind Russia’s demographic crisis, the HIV epidemic is lent increasingly heightened significance. Such…
Russian MiniLessons: Armed Forces – Вооружённые силы
Note, the following excerpt was written by Dr. Lawerence Mansour, West Point. It was originally published in The Russian Context: The Culture behind the Language, edited…
Public Education in Russia from Peter I to the Present
Education in Russia has traditionally been a very important part of life. Mass education there took root with Peter the Great in the beginning of the…
A Remedy for Legal Failure: Trial by Jury in Russia
Immediately following the emancipation of the Russian serfs in 1861, a series of liberal governmental and societal reforms were introduced. One of these, the Great…
Variations of Community: The Kommunalka and Gated Communities
The following was originally presented at the International Summer School “Comparative Research in the Social Sciences: Operationalizations” in Sofia, Bulgaria, September 2004, organized by UNESCO and…
