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…
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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…
Alexei Kudrin
Alexei Kudrin Rebuilding a Collapsed Country Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin became Russia’s Minister of Finance in 2000 and retained the post for 11 years. As the…
Europe: Divisions and Unifications
The European continent is diverse. Many of its countries, though smaller than many US states, can be further broken into regions that differ from each…
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,…
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…
Sergei Sobyanin
Sergei Sobyanin and the Transformation of Moscow Sergei Semyonich Sobyanin is the current Mayor of Moscow, a position he was promoted to under then-president Dimitri…
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…
Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Volodin and the Future of the Russian Presidency Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin has been a stalwart member of the United Russia party since its inception…
Igor Sechin
Igor Sechin and Mixing Oil with Politics Igor Ivanovich Sechin is a Russian statesman and oil magnate. Although he is often named as one of…
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…
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…
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…
“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….
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…