Tag Archives: putin

Shrinking spaces

From keeping up appearances to maintaining social stability and meeting the needs of the army, regional officials are finding themselves in tight spots more and more often. A handful of developments from the recent past highlight the means and pitfalls … Continue reading

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Low on capacity

As timelines in Russia’s war against Ukraine are shifting, the war has highlighted Russia’s low state capacity. Military mobilization and the state’s reply to the economic disruptions created by the war offer two recent examples. This will become a much … Continue reading

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Short-termism and the long war

One of the reasons why the economic crisis triggered by the war and Western sanctions has not caused bigger problems in Russia is that so far both the population and elites could afford to believe that throwing more resources on … Continue reading

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Uncharted territory

Vladimir Putin started a war of subjugation against Ukraine. Ukraine has put up an unexpectedly strong resistance and the West pulled out all the stops from sanctions. A couple of days after the aggression started, it seems that everyone wants … Continue reading

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Political QR

The ongoing debate about the introduction of country-wide vaccination passes is turning into a case study of the weaknesses of Russia’s emerging digital authoritarianism and public power in general.

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No questions allowed

The expulsion of a sitting Duma deputy from United Russia for breaking party discipline has very few precedents. It may thus foreshadow the ruling party’s approach to legislating in the years leading up to 2024 and possibly also serves as … Continue reading

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The 225 meanings of legitimacy

Amidst an increasingly harsh crackdown on dissent, a crisis of legitimacy haunts the Duma elections that will take place in seven weeks. But what does this actually mean? I argue that Russia in 2021 is not Belarus in 2020, but … Continue reading

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