Tag Archives: foreign_policy

On the drivers of the municipal reform, what makes Putin and Orban tick, and others

Posted on June 3, 2024 by

Looking back on the past couple of weeks in Russian politics, I am trying to explain why the Kremlin is eager to merge municipalities, a policy executed in several regions, which may become a federal law later this year. I … Continue reading →

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The changing face of the crisis

Posted on January 24, 2023 by

The year 2023 will be bumpier for many Russian regions than the past year was. Warning signs are already visible: tighter money, distracted officials, more friction points. The September regional and local elections are not without risks, either.

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Mobilization, a new statism and the question of time

Posted on April 27, 2022 by

Eight years into Russia’s war on Ukraine and two months into the present invasion, the perspective of a protracted war and long-term sanctions is increasingly considered on all sides. The invasion has led to significant changes in Russia already, including … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: Russia and the Council of Europe, again

Posted on March 3, 2021 by

Petr Tolstoy, the vice-speaker of the State Duma said this week that Russia should “revisit its role” in the Council of Europe and consider leaving it, should the CoE initiate a procedure against Russia due to the jailing of Alexey … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: the FSB exposures

Posted on December 23, 2020 by

What the Bellingcat report on Alexey Navalny’s would-be killers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Navalny’s phone call to one of them reveal about the Kremlin’s prospects in 2021 and beyond.

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NY Dispatches: Fragile sovereignism

Posted on December 14, 2020 by

The State Duma adopted, in the first reading, a bill expanding the defition of “foreign agents”, a discriminatory law first adopted in 2012. It appears that the updated law will be approved in the final reading in early 2021, opening … Continue reading →

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Russia’s options in Belarus

Posted on August 15, 2020 by

“I need to contact Putin,” said Alexander Lukashenko, “Belarus’s former president” – as Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs called him recently – after almost a week of unrelenting and ever-growing protests and strikes against the falsification of a presidential election … Continue reading →

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