Tag Archives: siloviki

The cost of peace

Posted on September 18, 2014 by

The war in Ukraine is, arguably, a very costly business for Russia’s leaders. No wonder that the political and business elite seem to be increasingly divided on the issue. However, the situation created by the conflict has benefited Russia’s ruling … Continue reading →

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Why sanctions may as well work

Posted on July 25, 2014 by

Two days ago, Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes, two renowned experts on Russia’s economy published a short analysis on the possible effect of European and American sanctions on Russia. The outlook was grim, they concluded: not only were sanctions unlikely … Continue reading →

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On the brink

Posted on April 16, 2014 by

As I am writing this blog entry, something that worryingly resembles the beginning of a civil war is underway in Eastern Ukraine. The triple strategy of the Ukrainian government – send in the military but restrain its activity, ask for … Continue reading →

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Storm clouds from Crimea

Posted on April 2, 2014 by

The invasion of Crimea was a reality check for all of us that assumed that Russia had been integrated into a rule-based global system and was working fairly rationally. As I have blogged before, most of us were wrong about … Continue reading →

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Time machine

Posted on March 16, 2014 by

I have repeatedly blogged about the tremendous costs Russia would incur by annexing Crimea. As the referendum on the peninsula’s joining Russia takes place today, those costs are still there in the background: if the Russian government accepts the peninsula … Continue reading →

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An aging octopus

Posted on September 28, 2013 by

Right after the Moscow mayoral election, Vladimir Putin nominated his aide Tatiana Golikova to head the Court of Audit. The Russian and international press did not care much: after all, Navalny and Roizman occupied the headlines. A couple of weeks … Continue reading →

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A tale of two politicians

Posted on July 23, 2013 by

Alexei Navalny was preparing to become the newest hero of the Russian opposition, an opposition that is now much wider, stronger, and more diverse and thus has much more opportunities than ten years ago, when Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted. When … Continue reading →

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