Russia

August 11, 2010

Laws Are Not Enough

Over at the The Power Vertical blog, RFE/RL’s Robert Coalson argues that new laws alone will do little to decrease police corruption in Russia. Here’s an excerpt: There has been a lot of ink spilled in recent weeks evaluating the propo...
August 11, 2010

Once the Smoke Clears

A ClimateWire piece published in the New York Times today speculates about the impact of Russia’s current natural disaster on the country’s future climate policies. Medvedev’s statements last week that Russia’s heatwave and...
August 11, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Aug 11, 2010

TODAY: Medvedev and Putin approval ratings suffer, public anger reflected in Russian press, US and Sweden issue travel warnings; plaintiff in Barkov lawsuit dies; Khimki protest broken up by police; hijacking exercise with the US completed; archit...
August 10, 2010

Another Take on the Reset

Here goes a counter-argument to Brian Whitmore’s Foreign Policy piece. While Whitmore sees the Russia reset policy as benefiting Georgia and other post-Soviet states, Ariel Cohen, writing in the Wall Street Journal today, warns that the rese...
August 10, 2010

Putin in the Cockpit

It’s certainly not the first time that Putin has staged a camera-friendly stunt to bolster his man-of-action image: Earlier today Putin flew up in a fire-fighting plane and took over the controls to drop water onto a raging forest fire below...
August 10, 2010

Why are Russia’s Fires Out of Control?

As more than 500 fires continue to burn throughout Russia, with little success of bringing the catastrophe under control, people are beginning to increasingly blame the state, citing government cuts in fire-protection resources and poor forestry m...
August 10, 2010

Ruble Takes a Hit

The heat and thick smoke cloaking Moscow are starting to have an effect on Russia’s currency, as traders flee the city, Bloomberg reports today. The ruble fell by 0.5% against the dollar over the last week. The nation’s worst heat wave...
August 10, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Aug 10, 2010

TODAY: Moscow mortality rates double; Kremlin pledges funds for Emergency Situations Ministry; heatwave in line with climate change expectations, says UN; Khimki forest case used by police to pressure journalists; Georgia makes official complaint ...
August 10, 2010

Officials: Reset Good for Georgia

In a commentary published on Foreign Policy Monday, Brian Whitmore argues that Georgia has benefited from Obama’s reset with Russia and is relatively safe now from the threat of another invasion. This is interesting in light of how Medvedev ...
August 9, 2010

Heat Wave Conspiracy Theories

The insufferably high temperatures affecting Moscow over the past number of weeks seem to defy explanation.  According to reports, the Russian capital has now gone through at least 26 days in a row of temperatures exceeding 86 degrees Fahrenh...