Category: Eurasia

West ‘ignoring Putin’s actions’ – must engage Russia’s democracy movements

     

The U.S. should remain engaged with Russia’s pro-democracy movement, says a leading opposition activist. It is important to maintain pressure on the Russian authorities and President Vladimir Putin and take… Read more »

Belarus on the boil: What happens next?

     

Belarus authorities have arrested dozens in the wake of demonstrations protesting a law against “social parasites,” RFE/RL reports. The 2015 law took effect earlier this year, sparking protests that have broadened into… Read more »

Putin Generation finds its voice in anti-corruption protests

     

In Russia’s once-quiet provinces, young people took the lead in last weekend’s anti-corruption protests, AP reports. According to user data compiled from a social media page for people who said… Read more »

U.S. ill-prepared to counter Russia’s disinformation

     

Propaganda is nothing new. But Moscow is frighteningly effective—and worse is on the way, says Mike Rogers, a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. What’s… Read more »

Myth of Putin starts to crumble

     

Since the start of the 21st century, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dominated Russian politics. So much so that global media often refer to him as a czar and dictator…. Read more »

Putin critic Navalny jailed as mass protests ‘energize Russian opposition’

     

A day after Russia saw its largest wave of unsanctioned protests in years, opposition leaders on Monday cheered the turnout as a sign of widespread dissatisfaction with President Vladi­mir Putin…. Read more »

Bulgaria poll a setback for Putin?

     

Bulgaria held parliamentary elections on 26 March, with preliminary results indicating that GERB, led by Boyko Borisov (left), had emerged as the largest party, says Dimitar Bechev, a Nonresident Senior Fellow… Read more »

How to curb kleptocrats’ ‘existential threat to democracy’

     

The irony is that in the century since the Russian Revolution, the “soft” democracies have endured, and the communist system that has collapsed. But the inheritors of the NKVD mantle—the… Read more »

Russia’s anti-corruption protests ‘likely to be large’ as ‘Laundromat’ highlights kleptocratic rule

     

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny today declined Moscow city authorities’ proposal to hold an anti-corruption rally on 26 March in the Lyublino or Sokolniki districts of the capital, instead calling… Read more »