Program Publications
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The Kremlin Overslept Kaliningrad
On January 30, 10,000 people protested in Kalingrad against the policies of United Russia and, in particular, the region's governor, millionaire Georgy Boos. The large protest demonstrates a disconnect between the authorities and the people of the region.
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Ukraine’s Presidential Election—The End of the Orange Revolution
Viktor Yanukovich will likely be the winner of the presidential election in Ukraine, and once in office, he will have to confront the biggest risk to Ukraine's independence and security: a continuation of divided government and policy paralysis.
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Music and Politics Color Greek Pilgrimage to Trebizond
The Turkish government’s new foreign policy of building bridges with old enemies, including the Armenians and the Greeks, is working to slowly bring about a new spirit of tolerance in modern Turkey.
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Glasnost Without Perestroika
The recent State Council meeting on the subject of modernizing Russia's political system reflected the growing political cracks in the foundation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s vertical power structure.
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Mr. Khloponin Goes to the Caucasus
By combining the posts of presidential envoy and deputy prime minister for the newly created North Caucasus Federal District, the Kremlin is taking strong political measures to end the violence in the North Caucasus.
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Russia: Is No News Good or Bad News?
Russia’s recovery remains slow. With domestic demand still weak, oil and natural gas producers—critical players in the Russian economy—are looking for markets outside of Russia.
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Russia and World Trade: Out in the Cold
Russia’s accession to the WTO—which would benefit both Russia and the global trading system—has been stalled since June. To move forward, Russia must clarify its accession plan and prove its commitment to the WTO.
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Medvedev Is Tasked With Modernisation
At some point Putin and Medvedev will have to decide between giving priority to the survival of the current system and accepting Russia's steady marginalization, or supporting modernization by opening up the system and putting its survival at risk.
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Talking to Moscow
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposed European security treaty has its flaws, but it is a first step toward an important conversation that must take place if a viable and undivided Euro-Atlantic security space is to be created.
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(Re)Engaging Russia in an Era of Uncertainty
Russian policy makers need to open space for public debate and engage in substantive discussions on critical global issues, and Western governments and institutions need to open the door to independent Russian voices.
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The Kremlin Kowtow
To the dismay of Russian reformers, a consensus seems to be growing among Western policymakers and intellectuals that Russia is not ready for liberalism and that there are even certain advantages to dealing with the illiberal political order built by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
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Putin-Medvedev Double Act is Prelude to Either Reform or Marginalisation
To dismiss Medvedev as a mere Putin puppet would be a mistake; Medvedev was chosen to recruit an internet savvy and generally more liberal Russian constituency to the Kremlin’s program of conservative modernization.
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The Difficulty of Being Ukraine
Whoever wins the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine must lead a country divided by identity issues and hit hard by the global financial meltdown, while maintaining a delicate balance between Western integration and Eastern cultural roots and affinities.
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A One-Man Vote
A new procedure in Russia’s gubernatorial elections that allows the party dominating the regional legislature to nominate gubernatorial candidates only perpetuates the worst problems of the previous system of appointments.
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'The Stans' in Transition
The five post-Soviet Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—share common political, cultural, and historical roots, but they are far from homogeneous, and continuing domestic and regional tensions could lead to violent conflict.
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U.S. Policy in Central Asia: Looking Ahead
As the war in Afghanistan begins to enter a new phase, it is important to reexamine some of the premises of U.S. policy in the Central Asian region and to consider whether the conditions in the region have changed in the last decade.
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Russia: Overcoming an Unfriendly Climate for Change
As the world headed to Copenhagen to talk about climate change, Russians were largely silent on the subject; by most accounts, the average Russian citizen doesn’t think about global warming at all.
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Toward a Stronger European Security
In response to the diverse challenges facing the region, the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative—an international commission to build the intellectual framework for an inclusive transatlantic security system for the 21st century—has been launched.
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2-Way Dialogue Once A Year
Although Prime Minister Putin’s eighth annual call-in show was much livelier than the typical state television coverage of the government’s public policy, it will take much more than a yearly show to establish a genuine two-way dialogue between the government and the people.
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The Perfect Fall Guy
President Medvedev’s modernization program seems more like another attempt to freshen up Russia’s democratic façade while maintaining the status quo, which could potentially worsen the country’s stagnation and perhaps make it irreversible.
