Is Russia’s ‘new civic activism’ testing Putin’s grip on power?
More people in Russia view the late Brezhnev era of the Soviet Union as “close to the people” than they do President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, according to a survey… Read more »
Tag: Mark Galeotti
Russia’s crony capitalism: from market economy to kleptocracy?
Russia’s main problem isn’t populism, but elitism in two basic forms, says analyst Emil Pain, the paternalist one in the state based on tradition and the “snobbish” version held many… Read more »
Putin’s all-powerful ‘power vertical’ is a ‘myth’?
The gulf between what President Vladimir V. Putin says and what happens in Russia raises a fundamental question about the nature of his rule after more than 18 years at… Read more »
Russia looks to Balkans as a battlefield in ‘political war’ with the West
With migration, Russian aggressiveness and Brexit, the European Union is taking the western Balkans seriously again, the New York Times reports: The bloc’s strategy for the Western Balkans, published in February,… Read more »
Countering Russia’s Super Mafia – a kleptocracy in the making
Mark Galeotti’s timely account of the Russian underworld – The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia – charts its rise from Soviet-era gangsters to Kremlin collaborators under Vladimir Putin, notes analyst Oliver… Read more »
Paradise Papers highlight kleptocracy’s corrosive impact on democracy
A huge leak of financial documents revealed by a group of about 100 media organizations on Sunday provided deep insights into some of the mechanisms used by top politicians and celebrities… Read more »
Democracies should prepare for long fight against Russian disinformation
Russia carries out and encourages ‘active measures’ in Europe to destabilize and confuse governments and societies. But these are often opportunistic and shaped by local conditions, says analyst Mark… Read more »
Russian cyberattacks aimed at legitimacy of political process
Current and former government officials painted a sinister portrait Wednesday of Russian cyberattacks aimed at interfering in the U.S. presidential election last year, AP reports: Moscow stockpiled stolen information and selectively… Read more »
Russia’s ‘active measures’ – worse than you thought
Russia’s efforts to hack the 2016 presidential election were much more widespread than originally thought. The Russian campaign hit 39 states — twice as many as originally reported — and… Read more »
Crimintern: How the Kremlin uses Russia’s criminal networks
Over the past 20 years, the role of Russian-based organised crime (RBOC) in Europe has shifted considerably, notes Mark Galeotti, senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague… Read more »