Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship
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 »
Category: Russia
Why political prisoners matter
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 »
Standing up to Russia’s kleptocracy
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 »
From the Bottom, Up: A Strategy to Support Syria’s Opposition
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 »
Kleptocracy: the real scandal behind the Panama Papers
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 »
Time to counter foreign disinformation
Fifteen years ago, the idea that foreign disinformation might be a problem for European countries seemed ludicrous, note columnist Anne Applebaum and Edward Lucas, a senior editor at the Economist…. Read more »
Russia tops crony capitalism index
Developing economies account for 43% of global GDP but 65% of crony wealth, according to a new index of crony capitalism. Of the big countries Russia still scores worst,… Read more »
Will the ‘Trump effect’ boost world’s authoritarians?
Donald Trump’s emergence as the Republican presidential candidate has already dealt an enormous blow to the reputation of the American political system, and indeed to the reputation of democracy itself,… Read more »
New isolationism or a strategy for democratic renewal?
A joke in Milan Kundera’s novel “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” goes like this, The Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens writes: “In Wenceslaus Square, in Prague, a guy is throwing… Read more »
Indispensable reforms for Ukraine’s ‘revolution without change’
Achieving progress on reforming Ukraine’s economy would send the strongest possible message to critics who doubt the country’s ability to operate as a modern state, argues Carnegie analyst Pierre Vimont:… Read more »