Tag: Communist Party

Russia Update: Liberal Opposition Loses in Kostroma

September 15, 2015

Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here. Special features: – ‘I Was on Active Duty’: Interview with Captured GRU Officer Aleksandrov – Meet The Russian Fighters Building A Base Between Mariupol And Donetsk […]

Alliance Of Nomenklatura Reformers, Soviet Liberals In 1980s Made a Putin ‘Inevitable’

March 6, 2015

Staunton, March 6 – The alliance of reformers in the CPSU nomenklatura and Soviet liberals who were prepared for various reasons to cooperate with them led to the defeat of the dissidents who rejected the system as a whole and condemned Russia again to suffer once again a return “to the ideology of Russian imperialism […]

Russia Update: Large Russian Military Staging Ground Detected Near Ukrainian Border

January 7, 2015

Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here, and see also our Russia This Week story The Guild War – How Should Journalists Treat Russian State Propagandists? and special features ‘Managed Spring’: How Moscow […]

Unless Ethnic Russians Have Autonomy, Russian Federation Will Disintegrate, Moscow Analyst Says

June 8, 2014

Staunton, June 7 – Unless Moscow gives territorial autonomy to ethnic Russians and ends as much as possible inter-regional transfers of government spending, the Russian Federation “in the near future” will explode in “a civil war analogous to the Ukrainian one” and “inevitably “disintegrate,” according to Mariya Butina. In a post on Ekho Moskvy, the […]

Russian Skepticism about Parties Opening the Way to a Return to One Party Rule, Commentator Says

May 28, 2014

Staunton, May 28 – The share of Russians who are “skeptical” about the value of political parties for themselves and their country is opening the way for a return to a one-party system, in some ways resembling the one that existed in Soviet times, according to a Moscow commentator. In a Rosbalt.ru blog post yesterday, […]

Is Pavlik Morozov Making a Comeback in Putin’s Russia?

May 17, 2014

Staunton, May 17 – One of the most heinous and socially destructive aspects of Soviet policy was the Communist Party’s continuing efforts to encourage children to report on or even denounce their parents. That program may have helped the regime to stay in power but only at the cost of distrust and atomization of society. […]

Russia This Week: Professor Dismissed for Crimean Criticism Reinstated (April 7-11)

April 11, 2014

Updated Daily. A professor who compared Putin’s forcible annexation of the Crimea was fired from his position, but then later re-instated after protests. But for how long? Meanwhile, bloggers face new challenges as conservative legislators seek to equate bloggers with media outlets under the restrictive Russian press law. Go here, here, and here for past […]

Putin’s Crimean Move Won’t Lead to Unification of Belarus and Russia, Experts Say

April 3, 2014

Staunton, April 3 – In the wake of Crimea, Moscow is likely to increase pressure on Belarus to cooperate, but experts say there is little chance that the two countries will unite any time soon. Instead, Putin’s Crimean Anschluss is likely to make Belarus and other former Soviet republics even more leery than they already […]

Record Amount of Candidates and Parties for Chechnya Elections

August 5, 2013

In Chechnya, the Electoral Commission registers anyone who wishes to participate in the parliamentary elections, which resulted in a record number of candidates for parliamentary seats. The majority of registered parties do not have their offices in the republic and are not going to spend money on campaigning. “Spoilers” will help to strengthen the position […]