At yesterday’s Strategy 31 rallies, stalwart democracy activist Boris Nemtsov was apparently quick to draw inspiration from the example of Egypt’s mass protests, a tsunami of popular discontent against Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, which is bringing the authoritarian regime to its knees and dominating global headlines.  ‘Please, someone tell me how our leadership differs from his‘, Nemtsov apparently shouted to last night’s crowd from the back of a truck.  Whilst certainly similarities in regime styles might be identified, Vladimir Ryzhkov in the Moscow Times explains why socio-political differences in the populations of the two regions problematize any comparison:

It is the numerous and embittered Arab youth — deprived of opportunities by economic stagnation and aging dictatorships — that formed the combustible material first for the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunisia, and then for the fires of revolution breaking out in other Arab states. In this respect, Russia is the exact opposite of Tunisia, Egypt and Iran. The Arab world is a boiling cauldron of discontented youth, but Russia is an old and cooling star.