Tag Archives: regions

Empty promises

Posted on April 18, 2021 by

A boastful statement by a party chairman and a meandering interview with a Duma deputy offer a glimpse onto the limits that “systemic” opposition parties and their politicians have to observe in Russia, and how they are trying to use … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Elections ahead – Part IV

Posted on March 9, 2021 by

Six months before this year’s Duma election Russia’s political landscape is in flux. The future of “smart voting” remains a factor of uncertainty. Shifts in public opinion, the Kremlin’s new red lines and how the systemic opposition has reacted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Policies | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Three tales from the regions

Posted on February 22, 2021 by

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, “The Sun Also Rises”, a character, Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. He answers: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” This is also how political change often happens. Small-scale, incremental changes that go unnoticed prepare the ground for something … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The plague year of the regions

Posted on February 4, 2021 by

The pandemic year of 2020 battered regional budgets. Some went through a double crisis due to the oil slump in the first half of the year. However, official figures released in January show a somewhat rosier picture than many feared. … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Policies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Elections ahead

Posted on January 9, 2021 by

This year Russia will hold nation-wide legislative elections and the talk of the town, for months, have been whether the Kremlin’s expectation is for United Russia, which presently holds 343 of 450 seats – a comfortable constitutional supermajority – in … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in Dispatches, Policies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Dispatches, Elections, Policies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment