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…
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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…
The Growth of Russia’s IT Outsourcing Industry: The Beginning of Russian Economic Diversification?
The following is a summary of a speech given by Daniel Satinsky, B.E.A Associates. It was given at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. on April 17,…
Deconstructing the Millennium Manifesto: The Yeltsin-Putin Transition and the Rebirth of Ideology
Introduction: The Dearth of Ideology On the 12th July 1996, following a closely fought election victory, Boris Yeltsin called his advisors to him. ‘In Russia’s…
The Bear and the Dragon
The relationship that has existed between Russia and China has historically been one of mistrust spotted with anger, fear and resentment. Despite their communist ties…
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…
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,…
Mandate of the Fatherland: Denis Fonvizin’s Translation of Neo-Confucianism into the Politics of Enlightened Absolutism under Catherine the Great
Born in 1745, Denis Fonvizin was one of eighteenth-century Russia’s premier playwrights, and among the reform-minded intellectuals and future statesmen educated at the University of…
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…
US-Russia Relations After September 11, 2001: A Game Theory Analysis
While the following is highly informative without understanding such finer subtleties as the difference between realism and neorealism, etc. we recommend the following Wikipedia entries for…
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…
Privately Enforced Capitalism: The Rise (and Fall?) of Russia’s Oligarchs
Today in Russia, a small group of men called the oligarchs control a disproportionate portion of the Russian economy. In a capitalist environment, a large…
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…
Russian Labor: Workers’ Stories
The Russian middle class continues to make strides, but the “American Dream” remains unreachable for most Russians due to poor enforcement of the labor code…
The Siberian Curse: Democracy, Anarchy, and Resources
Russia is a land whose boundless possibilities are matched only by its perpetual troubles. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the resource rich…
Russia’s Elusive Middle Class
Marketers, retailers, and politicians alike are increasingly seeking the favor of Russia’s “new” middle class. However, historically the class has been hard to define and…