Month: December 2007

December 19, 2007

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Dec. 19, 2007

Today: Warning on Russia’s stabilization fund; Rosprirodnadzor fines Sakhalin II project operator; Tymoshenko speaks about gas negotiations with Russia; relations improving with Greece, Poland and Iran; Foreign Ministry to release captured Japanes...
December 18, 2007

“There is no need to end your life with an article”

More info on the Natalia Morar case from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which put out a statement today: She said that in May she had investigated complex money-laundering schemes involving government officials who funneled large sums of mo...
December 18, 2007

U.S. LawmakersTake a Weak Swipe at Russia

Despite the billions in petro-dollars flooding into Russia from oil exports, when it comes time for the U.S. lawmakers to fight over the pork-laden appropriations bill, the Americans still find time to think about Russia. However the AP reports th...
December 18, 2007

Andreas Umland: Russian Politics to Become Ideological Again?

It’s been quite a long time since ideology figured into Russian politics (as long as we’re not counting kleptocracy as a belief). However, with the selection of a successor and the move of Vladimir Putin to the office of prime minister...
December 18, 2007

The Divine Presidency

The separation of church and state in Russia has been all but erased this week as Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church has gone on state television for an extended special to officially bless First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvede...
December 18, 2007

“Very Creepy” Business with Spies

Andrew Kramer at the Times digs into the Oleg Shvartsman story, and gives particular attention to Renault’s due diligence and business dealings with AvtoVaz and Sergei V. Chemezov: For big Western companies, the prevalence of former Federal ...
December 18, 2007

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Dec. 18, 2007

Today: United Russia party congress: Putin to accept premiership if Medvedev becomes president; SPS leader resigns; Russia threatens to target two proposed American bases in Europe with nuclear missiles; ArcelorMittal to move into Russia; Seversta...
December 17, 2007

Competing Narratives of a Dual State

Can we please get something clear here? There are two ongoing political narratives in Russia today. The first, a narrative put forward by the likes of Steinmeier, Schröder, Gadhafi, Sarkozy and other United Russia apologists, talks about the only ...
December 17, 2007

Why Did the Kremlin Expel Natalia Morar?

If I put my mind to it, I could easily draw up quite a long list of reporters and activists in Russia whom the siloviki would prefer to see exiled from the country, or worse (not to give anyone ideas…). So why, out of everyone, has the Kreml...
December 17, 2007

Putinism without Putin?

Populism as a political concept is notoriously difficult to pin down, and is exceptionally prone to misuse. It describes neither policy nor ideology, but is rather best captured by the argument that populism above all constitutes a individualist &...