A leading U.S. Senator is expressing concern over threats to Russia’s civil society, including independent citizen election monitoring group Golos, ahead of Russia’s September 2016 parliamentary elections. “I am deeply concerned… Read more »
In an illuminating anecdote that David Shambaugh heard from two Chinese officials who witnessed an encounter between Hu Jintao and Russian leader Vladimir Putin with Beijing’s increasingly harsh scrutiny of… Read more »
In December 2013, David Satter became the first American journalist to be expelled from Russia since the Cold War. The Moscow Times said it was not surprising he was expelled,… Read more »
A citizen of Belarus who was born in Ukraine and writes in Russian, Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich takes as her subject the “history of the Russian-Soviet soul”, The Times Literary… Read more »
Azerbaijani authorities are using spurious drug charges to pursue long prison sentences against two youth activists. The charges apparently are in retaliation for painting graffiti on a monument. The authorities… Read more »
Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday appointed a close ally of President Petro Poroshenko with no legal background as general prosecutor, a position seen by the West as crucial for Kiev’s… Read more »
Today, May 12, marks the 40th anniversary of the Moscow Helsinki Group, a human rights organization created to monitor the Soviet Union’s compliance with the Helsinki Accords, notes Natan… Read more »
Corruption, the trading of favors, embezzlement, and favoritism are not just endemic in Russia, but part of a kleptocratic system of rule through which Vladimir Putin controls the elite, says… Read more »
As negotiations continue to uphold a teetering ceasefire in Syria, the primary U.S. effort in Syria should be a bottom-up strategy to build cohesive, moderate, armed opposition institutions with a… Read more »
A “Kleptocracy Tour” of London’s luxury houses bought by shady international tycoons and officials was set up by anti-corruption campaigner Roman Borisovich, who aims to expose dirty money fueling… Read more »