Staunton, December 14 – A country or group of countries which declares itself to be a federation but does not give that term real content is at risk of falling apart, while one that does not only will retain all its parts but become an attractive model for people around the world, according to Vadim […]
Staunton, October 13 – Vadim Shtepa, perhaps Russia’s leading advocate of regionalism and federalism, says that the new Mutual Assistance Party led by Lviv Mayor Andrey Sadovy with its commitment to European values, local governance, and the mutual assistance ideas from the Ukrainian diaspora can show both Ukraine and Russia how to proceed. In a […]
Staunton, September 17 – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion at the end of August that the people of Tatarstan should have the right to decide the title of their republic leader has opened a Pandora’s box with some in other republics now demanding the retention of the title “president” for themselves. Yesterday, Murtaza Rakhimov, the […]
Staunton, September 9 – In his latest update on Stalinism as “effective management,” Vladimir Putin has disbanded Russia’s Regional Affairs Ministry, yet another sign of his drive to further centralize the country, eliminate any serious discussion of Russia’s regions and their problems, and thus undermine any chance that Moscow will have an effective nationality policy. […]
Staunton, August 4 – Moscow’s adoption of ‘imperial federalism’ as a strategy to extend its power over neighboring countries is sparking a variety of demands within the Russian Federation for moves toward making that country a genuine and not only a nominal federal system, according to Vadim Shtepa. In an article on Rufabula.com, Shtepa, one […]
Staunton, August 2 – On August 1, the Russian government forced Slon.ru to remove an interview with a leader of the Siberian regionalist movement only to have it appear on other sites almost instantly. On the one hand, the ban reflects Moscow’s nervousness about the announcement of plans by Siberian regionalists to hold “a march […]
Staunton, July 30 – Vladimir Putin has eliminated elections at the regional levels at least in part to ensure that nationalist parties do not have the opportunity to challenge his hand-picked party of power officials. But some nationalist groups are using elections at the city level to advance their cause. In Karelia, Yekaterina Yemelyanova and […]
Staunton, July 28 – Moscow commentators like to talk about the existence of “two, three or even more Ukraines” and argue that Ukraine will disintegrate, Igor Losev says, but the reality is that there are far more ‘Russias’ than that, and the Russian Federation is thus at far greater risk of falling apart. In a […]
Staunton, July 27 – Residents of the Russian Federation are increasingly identifying not as Russians but as Siberians not only because they feel themselves different than ethnic Russians in terms of mentality but also because Moscow treats them like a colony and because they have closer ties to China and the Pacific Rim countries than […]
Staunton, June 6 – Vladimir Putin has adopted the rhetoric of national self-determination and federalism in Ukraine, but a leading Russian regionalist site says that this is “hypocrisy and a farce” which should deceive no one and especially not regionalists and federalists in Russia because it is only “a cover for an aggressive imperial policy.” […]
